RIVER water from a Dales beauty spot could be used to generate green power for the National Grid.
Plans have been unveiled to restore two 70-year-old turbines in a mill near the tourist attraction of Aysgarth Falls, in Wensleydale.
Mill owners Ann and David Kiely hope water from the River Ure will generate up to 75kw per hour.
Mrs Kiely is in discussion with a company that buys green energy from small schemes and sells it to large power suppliers.
Income from the turbines would be used to fund the restoration of the building.
Mrs Kiely said: "The worst scenario is it will cost £120,000 to get the turbines operating. We would then be looking at a return in ten years."
The project also involves restoring the mill race and sluice gates leading from the upper falls.
The couple began looking at generating renewable energy after the Yorkshire Dales National Park refused them permission to turn the mill into a craft centre.
The Grade II-listed building was built in 1784 as a cotton mill. Since then, it has been used as a corn mill, an animal feed depot and a carriage museum.
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