Micro & Small Hydropower
Hydropower is usually defined by its size, or installed capacity, with ‘pico’ including up to 5 kW and ‘micro’ including schemes up to 100 kW. These schemes can supply reliable generation with minimal visual or environmental impact. They often include domestic schemes, on-farm, mill owners or community schemes and some may also be ‘off-grid’, i.e., not connected to the wider electricity grid.
‘Small’ hydropower is usually defined as hydropower with an installed capacity of between 100 kW and 1,000 kW (1 MW). These schemes may be run-of-river or ‘conventional’ hydropower, utilising a reservoir to store and manage water flow. They are usually commercially owned and operated, although there are some community schemes that are also within this bracket.
See Case Studies for examples of different types of hydropower.
Large Hydro
Large-scale hydro schemes are over 1 MW and can be run-of-river or conventional hydropower, utilising a dam that impounds water in a reservoir, creating a large head with significant stored potential energy. The reservoir feeds large turbines and generators and can rapidly respond to spikes in demand for electricity. ‘Large’-scale hydropower infrastructure can have many co-benefits:
- Multi-purpose dams, which besides providing electricity, also ensure potable drinking water and irrigation.
- Hydropower facilities can also contribute to enhanced shipping conditions on rivers and improving river conditions (e.g., removing waste).
- Hydropower schemes can reduce flooding and provide recreation and tourism opportunities.
The hydropower industry continues to raise the bar as to what constitutes good stewardship and acceptable practices in using resources for hydro development.
A recent ‘Resource Assessment’ study was undertaken by Birmingham University and highlights that, with a government-backed price stabilisation mechanism, a further 1 GW of hydropower can be deployed in the UK. This would be beneficial in the advancement of the UK’s net zero ambitions and help provide affordable energy for consumers.
Community Hydropower
There are a multitude of community hydropower schemes across the UK. These are usually seeded, developed, owned and operated by community members. The community usually sets up a Community Benefit Society and raises the capital for the scheme through a community share issue. See more at our ‘I Want to Install Hydropower’ page.