Clean, green and discrete, small scale hydro electric schemes have been an important source of power for more than 150 years. There is every chance that hydro schemes developed toady will still be operational into the next century. This gives hydro a clear role to play in the UK’s renewable energy future. A pending review of the government’s Feed-In tariff may however, determine if the industry continues to thrive or stagnates.
Most attention on renewables concentrates on wind turbines and solar power. Hydro power accounts for 17% of global electricity generation compared to 3% for all other renewable sources combined. Most of this comes from large scale hydro schemes such as China’s Three Gorges Dam but, these have large scale environmental and social costs. In the UK 1.5% of our electricity comes from large schemes mainly in the Scottish Highlands. There is not much potential for further large schemes in the UK as most of the viable sites have been utilised. Small scale developments still have plenty of scope to produce 1 to 2 % of current generating capacity. Hydro has a “pay back” ration of 300 to 1, it beats all other forms of electric generation. It can convert 90% of the energy in the available water into electricity, more efficient thatn any other form of generation.
Government policy to limit carbon emissions has given the opportunity to develop projects that would have previously been unviable. Business, communities and individuals can now be more involved in reducing carbon emissions by investing in small scale shydro schemes.
Run-of-river schemes use a small weir to redirect water into an underground e pipe which feeds the water downhill to a power station (a small garage type building) where it spins a turbine, generating electrcity, and is then retruned to the river. The amount of power extracted depends on the flow’s volume and drop in height. They have great longevity. Hydro is probably the cleanest and greenest form of energy. They could last for over 50 years whereas most other renewable schemes may need replacing after 20 years.
However the government proposes to reduce the FIT which if set too low will reduce or stop future developments. Getting the price right is very important to ensure small scale hydro continues to develop.
