A conical structure rising from the banks of the River

Derwent could be powering Derby's Council House by 2010.

The building, planned by the city council, will house a

£1.66m hydro-electric power station that will pump 46.8m litres

of water an hour from the river to generate energy.

A planning application is about to be submitted and the

Environment Agency is considering whether to allow water from

the river to be used.

If both are approved, the power station could be built by

Longbridge Weir and operating by April, 2010.

Councillor Lucy Care, cabinet member for planning and

transportation, said the plant would make use of sustainable

energy opportunities.

She said: “The Council House it is sitting there by the

river, near a weir, and it is stupid of us not to be using

it.”

The structure will be covered in climbing plants and be

accessed by swirling ramps around its outside so it can be used

by disabled people.

At the top, there will be a platform for people to look

across the river and a bridge linking it to the Riverlights

development of restaurants, hotels, a casino and a bus

station.

Inside are the generators and equipment which would pump

water out of the river and push it through turbines to generate

power, which would then be transferred to the Council House via

cables.

The building, which is preparing to undergo a

multi-million-pound refurbishment, may sometimes have to draw

extra electricity from the National Grid.

But at other times, particularly in the evenings, it will

use less energy than the station will produce, meaning it can

sell the extra to the grid.

Once up and running, it is expected to bring in around

£128,000 a year.

However, with costs of more than £1.6m and running costs of

around £20,000 a year, the authority has estimated it will not

pay for itself for the first 25 years. The council's annual

energy bill is £85,000.

Mrs Care said those estimates, made at the end of last year,

could already be superseded.

“The cost of electricity is rising all the time, with

soaring oil prices, so the pay-back period of this power

station is getting closer,” she said.

“We need to get this going as soon as possible so we can set

an example to other people and businesses about what they could

be doing in terms of helping the environment.”

Original proposals for the power station were for a

single-storey brick building, costing around £1.5m.

But the authority has invested a further £160,000 to make

the building more attractive.

The generator, which converts the power of the moving water

into energy, would be relatively quiet and difficult to hear

over the sound of water running over the weir.

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