Where is it?

Nenthead mines are found in Cumbria and part of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Site history

Miners have been active at Nenthead since the late 1600s exploiting the area's reserves of lead and silver. Throughout the site's history various water-courses were excavated to drive first water-wheels and then turbines to power the mining operations.

Nenthead stopped production of lead and silver ore in 1965. The station was re-developed as a joint venture between TradeLink Solutions Ltd and the North Pennines Heritage trust in order to power the local visitors' centre and to generate renewable energy for the grid. Construction began in April 2004 and was completed in May 2005.

Today's station is on the site of an original turbine house and utilises the same ancient water-courses which still carry water today.

The hydropower plant

The Nenthead Mines scheme sports two Pelton turbines. One of these has a generating capacity of 90kW and the other has 312kW. The plant uses two reservoirs. This means that water can be stored and generation of renewable electricity can be guaranteed at times of peak demand. The site is able to service 400 homes.

Refurbishment

The development has added no new water-courses to the ones found or created by the miners of centuries past. However, due to the age of these water-courses, some renovation and restoration has been required. TradeLink Solutions and the North Pennines Heritage Trust de-silted these courses and replaced some damaged structures.