News

Oxford Open Doors If you would like to learn more about the project and meet some of the volunteer team who have been working behind the scenes you might like to know we are taking part in Oxford Open Doors. As the site itself is not open we’ll be based in the Mary Town Room…

Held on the 4th June in the Boiler Room at the Old Jam Factory, our first ever Annual General Meeting was attended by more than 50 members. As part of our rules, a third of directors need to stand down each year, and the Board decided to do this alphabetically.  As a result Ruth Finar…

It’s here!  On Tuesday 25th March the screw was delivered from the Netherlands.  We held our breath as the 4.35m screw was lowered into place,  and at midday, the 4.35m-long, four-bladed Archimedean screw was installed. Despite being officially on holiday, we were delighted that Steve Naylor from the Environment Agency was there on the day and…

Tom Cosford, a final year student studying Geography at Oxford Brookes University, is currently writing a dissertation on the possible ecological consequences of small-scale hydropower schemes such as the one at Osney Lock, specifically the possible effects on fish.  He is particularly interested in learning about different views on this issue.  He has has prepared…

Not content with generating green electricity, and income for local environmental projects, the OLH team are also keen for the hydro scheme to become a platform from which to tell the story of our river.  We would like local people visiting the site to learn about our community’s centuries old relationship with the Thames, and…

Earlier today we celebrated a successful conclusion to the groundbreaking partnership between Osney Lock Hydro and the Environment Agency to  build  the  hydro  base  and the  Weir  B  replacement  structure. The topping out ceremony was led by Howard  Davidson,  South  East  Regional  Director of the Environment  Agency.  He concluded the ceremony by unfurling a banner, aided by…

Osney Lock Hydro civil engineering completed We are pleased to announce that the civil engineering works on Osney Lock Hydro achieved practical completion on Friday 8th November.  Work was just about complete in time for our original target date of 17th October but the final finishing touches had to wait while the Greenford team focused…

We are delighted that the extraordinary support shown by local people towards the project was recently recognised at the Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action (OCVA) Awards where we won the fundraising award. The Osney Lock Hydro share offer raised over £500,000 in just four weeks. Without this swift and significant support, the project would not…

Hydro base emerging from the river bed; screw on order Great news of the last couple of weeks is that we have stopped digging and started building!  The photographs below show the base for the microhydro growing out of the riverbed and we can already see the distinctive curved end of the Powerhouse beautifully cast…

With the cofferdam in place, water has now been drained from the site of Weir B, so work on the riverbed can commence. The draining of the site also provides a unique opportunity to learn more about its history. A key point of interest is the century old winding gear for the weir. Oxford Archeology…

Construction of the cofferdam started on Monday 8th July.  In consultation with the Environment Agency, our contractors have slightly modified the design of the cofferdam. As a result the contractor has implemented a special piling head which as enabled them to use a relatively quiet piling technique using a ‘silent hammer’ or vibro-hammer. We have…

Osney Lock Hydro and the Environment Agency are pleased to announce that the Osney Lock site has now been fully mobilised and so construction work can begin on building the generator base for the Hydro and replacing the Weir B gates. The first element of the work is to build cofferdams to keep the water…