A NEW £50,000 waterwheel that generates hydroelectricity has been installed at the Dean Heritage Centre.

German manufacturers, Bega, delivered the waterwheel on a bespoke low loader vehicle and work started on Monday (September 9) to lift it into place and carry out the finishing touches.

The project, sponsored by the Forest of Dean Rotary Club, JD Norman Industries and Future Advanced Manufacture, and part funded by the Big Lottery Fund, was the initial brainchild of centre trustee, Edward Beard and has been many years in the planning.

President of the Forest of Dean Rotary Club, John Freeman, recently presented centre manager, Nathalie Hall with a cheque for £5,000 towards the project. The wheel will be connected to the national grid and potentially reduce the centre's annual energy costs by £7,000.

For safety reasons the centre was closed to visitors as contractors and staff worked together to move the large machinery and equipment into position. The centre reopened the next day and visitors could see the new waterwheel in situ.

Trustee, Mike Amey said: "We received the wheel on Sunday afternoon and got to work at 8am on Monday. We had to firstly position the wheel into place using a crane - which took us two hours - then adjust the bearings. It took us until 4pm to align the gearbox and then carry out a trial test in which the wheel turned successfully.

"The wheel won't be in motion until next week as we have had to source two components from Germany to make sure it is fit for purpose. The wheel looks great and will generate 7kw of electricity which will help reduce the centre's electricity bill by £7,000 per annum – which is fantastic."