Hydro Power
Hydroelectricity is long proven at all scales and Wales has many sites both large and small. It was possibly the very first renewable technology.
unknown potential
Hydro energy can be used for both generation and storage (pumped hydro) as at the ‘electric mountain in Eryri / Snowdonia. In Australia, the government there is investing billions in developing the next stage of the project know as Snowy Hydro, in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales. In an environment similar to our Elan valley, an interconnected series of dams are used to generate Hydroelectricity. Unfortunately, there are no current plans for large scale hydro generation in Wales that would not incur high costs and land loss.
Small-scale projects
Potential small-scale schemes, in rural locations, may be able to be developed sensitively but would never be significant generators of electricity, although they may act as small ‘closed loop’ systems for self-sufficient farms and small-scale rural industry.
CPRW is in principle supportive of hydro schemes but would need to assess any major development on its merits.
