Did you know?
How we generate our electricity:
As a family-run business, we have always thought in terms of generations. So it was important to us to contribute to sustainability and to bring our old mill back into operation. A “wild” undertaking! After going through the age-old documents written in Sütterlin script, it was clear: water rights and usage rights were in place, so planning could begin. Which method is the right one? A turbine or a water wheel? Which environmental protection requirements have to be met? Are there any subsidies? All this took a great deal of effort and was achieved above all thanks to the invaluable support of Ulrich Bäumer.
After several years of planning and applications, we were finally able to get to work in spring 2019: our age-old mill was given a new water wheel with the aim of generating electricity for the hotel's own use. The power connection to the hotel needed for this was already in place, so extensive concrete work followed to create a new plant room and a base for the water wheel. A new weir also had to be built on the upper mill race.
Then the moment came: the water wheel was turning! After a few months of learning and fine-tuning, the wheel now generates the kilowatts of electricity originally planned.
The sum invested will certainly not pay for itself in a year or two. But that is not the point. What matters is contributing to sustainability and doing what you can to actively protect nature and the environment. After all, we are also thinking of the generations to come.
Thanks to the great efforts of the staff of the Siepe company, the old mill wheel was rescued and lifted out with only a few dents, and it has stood as a rust sculpture on the mill meadow ever since.
As a family-run business, we have always thought in terms of generations. So it was important to us to contribute to sustainability and to bring our old mill back into operation. A “wild” undertaking! After going through the age-old documents written in Sütterlin script, it was clear: water rights and usage rights were in place, so planning could begin. Which method is the right one? A turbine or a water wheel? Which environmental protection requirements have to be met? Are there any subsidies? All this took a great deal of effort and was achieved above all thanks to the invaluable support of Ulrich Bäumer.
After several years of planning and applications, we were finally able to get to work in spring 2019: our age-old mill was given a new water wheel with the aim of generating electricity for the hotel's own use. The power connection to the hotel needed for this was already in place, so extensive concrete work followed to create a new plant room and a base for the water wheel. A new weir also had to be built on the upper mill race.
Then the moment came: the water wheel was turning! After a few months of learning and fine-tuning, the wheel now generates the kilowatts of electricity originally planned.
The sum invested will certainly not pay for itself in a year or two. But that is not the point. What matters is contributing to sustainability and doing what you can to actively protect nature and the environment. After all, we are also thinking of the generations to come.
Thanks to the great efforts of the staff of the Siepe company, the old mill wheel was rescued and lifted out with only a few dents, and it has stood as a rust sculpture on the mill meadow ever since.
