Landowners Turn to Hydro Power As A Source Of Renewable Energy
Wind farms are not the only source of renewable energy being considered by land owners as the latest trend is for those with access to sources of water to install hydro power as a source of renewable energy.
Rather than covering the countryside in wind turbines the next green energy trend appears to be hydro electricity but land owners are facing opposition from anglers and conservationists.
At the moment hydropower generates about 1.4% of electricity in Britain but with over 26,000 locations identified as suitable sites to generate electricity using water, hydro power could contribute another 1%.
Those keen to use water close to their estates as a way of generating electricity include the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland and the Earl and Countess of Arran.
Landowners are keen to take advantage of the Feed-In Tariff scheme. This means they will benefit from subsidies to install the machinery and they will be paid for any electricity which is fed back into the national grid. However, it seems all sources of renewable energy attract some kind of opposition. Hydro power has found opposition in the form of anglers and conservationists.
Campaigners argue that salmon going back to their spawning grounds will find themselves trapped in the dams of water that build up behind the turbines or that the fish will be killed on their way back down the rivers as they pass through the turbines.
Angling clubs own the rights along river banks and they say they will lose millions in fishing licences e.g. fishing along the River Exe in Devon and Somerset is worth £7 million a year but campaigners argue that hydro electricity schemes will mean a drop in the water flow on rivers and therefore anglers won’t buy licences on previously world class fishing sites.
The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland who live at Alnwick Castle, which was used in the Harry Potter films, want to build two micro-hydro schemes, one of them on part of the River Aln, famous for its fly fishing. The estate already has one hydro turbine installed which supplies renewable electricity to the workshops on the estate.
These renewable energy schemes should generate more than £1 million in income from subsidies and Feed-In tariffs over the course of the next twenty years. The weir at Alnwick should generate enough renewable electricity for 20 homes and help to reduce the Castle’s business electricity costs at a time when business electricity prices are rising.
Meanwhile the Earl and Countess of Arran who live at Filleigh Mill in north Devon plan to install a turbine using water from a tributary of the river Taw. But it’s not only individuals planning hydro installations. Local authorities, the National Trust and British Gas are also looking at developing their own schemes.
But critics such as the technical director of the Angling Trust, Alana Butterworth, suggest these projects are very expensive and only provide a small amount of electricity for the country as a whole. However, more schemes are set to be given licences this year. In 2008, the Environment Agency granted 10 licences but it’s expected that this year the number granted will be over 200.
It seems to be the case that renewable energy will result in controversy no matter what the source of energy generation. In fact, very few forms of energy generation seem to attract agreement from all sides, from coal fired power stations, nuclear plants to wind farms and hydro electric plants. Everyone uses the electricity generated by these sources but we are never in full agreement as to how that electricity should be generated.