Renewed interest in Micro-hydro power
Nigel Moore, Senior Renewable Energy Technologist, Greenmount Campus, CAFRE
In a suitable location small-scale hydropower is one of the most cost-effective and reliable of the renewable energy technologies. It has several advantages over wind and solar power:
- A high level of predictability, varying with annual rainfall patterns
- A slow rate of change; the output power varies only gradually from day to day (not from minute to minute)
- It is a long-lasting and robust technology; systems can readily be engineered to last for 50 years or more
- Modern Micro-hydro schemes can be environmentally benign. Micro-hydro is in most cases 'run-of-river'; in other words any dam or barrage is quite small, usually just a weir, and little or no water is stored
Northern Ireland has a long history of using small scale hydro power, although many installations became obsolete with the advent of relatively inexpensive mains electricity. With ever increasing energy costs and the desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, attention is once again focusing on micro-hydro as a means of electricity production on suitable sites.
To assist those interested in this technology, CAFRE are running a Micro-hydro workshop on the Focus Farm of Eoin McCambridge in Ballycastle on Thursday 15 December at 10.00am.
To book your place on the workshop and obtain further directions to the farm, please contact Denise Andrews at denise.andrews@dardni.gov.uk or telephone Technology Admin on (028) 9442 6770.
For further information about the workshop contact Nigel Moore at nigel.moore@dardni.gov.uk or by telephone at (028) 9442 6648.
Eoin McCambridge will discuss the operation of his micro-hydro plant at a CAFRE workshop held on his farm on Thursday 15 December.
