Early last century, many rural areas in the UK got most of their electricity from small hydro power schemes , which often powered entire villages.  Of course, that was in the days before dishwashers and televisions in every room, but they provided a reliable source of small-scale power.  Their capacity was limited and they did require regular maintenance, so when the National Grid was built in the 1930s, many of them fell into disuse.  For most of the last hundred years, they’ve been the domain of enthusiasts and off-grid dwellers, and refurbishing an old Pelton Wheel found in a barn somewhere a labour of love.

The real place for these schemes has been in developing countries – Peru, Kenya, Nepal, Zimbabwe -  where charities like Practical Action work with local people to build and maintain schemes in places where grid access is difficult.   Setting up workshops and training people to manufacture the turbines creates employment and enhances light industrial skills, promoting economic development.

Here in the UK they represent a small, but potentially useful resource which we should not ignore.  It’s pleasing to see that the government has decided to recognise the potential of refurbishing old schemes, and on Friday, Greg Barker, the Energy and Climate Change Minister, announced that refurbished schemes would be eligible for feed-in-tariff support.

A guide for communities and groups considering hydropower schemes suggests that to be eligible, refurbished equipment will need to be remanufactured to an ‘as new’ standard with a warranty, and installed by an MSC accredited installer.  It must not have been used to generate power since 31 March 1990.    The FIT rate for small (<15kW hydro schemes) is currently 19.9p/kWh, guaranteed for 20 years.  It isn’t clear whether exactly the same rate will apply to refurbished equipment.

At the same time, DECC have released a report showing that they believe the total small scale hydropower resource in England and Wales to be 146-248MW, in 1700 sites.   This compares to an estimate of 921kW in 73 sites which BERR made for the entire installed capacity in the UK in 2008.  While the BERR estimate is probably too low there is definitely a good-sized market for micro-hydro in the UK, and FIT support is available for new equipment and refurbishments.  So, if you’ve been thinking about that old Pelton wheel in the barn, now’s the time to do something about it.