Category Archives: Hydropower Schemes

Hydropower Feed-in Tariffs

A Feed-in Tariff (FITs) scheme was introduced into the UK in April 2010 aimed at providing financial support for the generation of electricity from anaerobic digestion, hydro, solar, photovoltaic and wind generation up to 5 megawatts (MW) capacity. In 2011 … Continue reading

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Callander hydropower scheme: description

The outline design for the Callander hydropower scheme produced by MNV Consulting has the following components: Intake: The proposal is for a run-of-river scheme (i.e. no water storage required), which would utilise water from the upper reaches of the Stank … Continue reading

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Environmental regulations for small hydro development in Scotland

The development of a hydropower scheme in Scotland must comply with various environmental regulations, and these must be considered from an early stage in the process. Of particular importance, there are legal requirements to assess the potential environmental impacts of … Continue reading

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Development policies

The suitability of the proposed development was considered in light of policies, plans and guidelines set out at national and local level (Table 1 and Table 2 below).   Because the scheme is under the 50 MW threshold set out by … Continue reading

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Outline of the scheme

MNV has been working with the Callander Community Development Trust (CCDT) to develop plans for a small run-of-river hydropower development on the Stank Burn, a tributary of the Teith catchment, situated in the Breadalbane area of the Loch Lomond and … Continue reading

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Inter-year variability of flow duration curves

River gauging is often carried out to determine the flow regime of a river for water resources purposes. A standard statistic used to represent the flow regime is the flow duration curve giving the flows which are exceeded for given … Continue reading

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Hydro-power assessments: reliability of results

The results provided in hydro-power assessments are only as reliable as the data they have been derived from. Several factors could cause an outline scheme configuration to differ from what the scheme installed on site eventually generates.  Topographic data is relatively easy to access … Continue reading

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Hydro-power assessments: yearly output

The estimation of the yearly output (usually quoted as MWH/Year or GWH/Year) of the site is carried out taking the following factors into account: Flow available across the flow duration curve and hence over the year Inter-year variability of the flow … Continue reading

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Hydro-power assessments: hydro-potential

In order to choose an appropriate turbine size and type for further assessment the following factors need to be considered: Head from intake to turbine Flow duration curve(s) Operational regime (domestic use, grid connection, mixed) Availability of design flow & … Continue reading

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Hydro-power assessments: river flow data

To assess the potential hydropower available an estimation of flow must be made unless there is existing flow data for the watercourse in question. Time series flow data are generally used to create a flow duration curve (FDC), which is … Continue reading

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