Stream engines: small scale hydropower

’Politics is a big issue,’ said Harris. ’I used to live in London; I’ve now moved to a rural village community and boy do the village politics make that lot in Westminster look like amateurs.’ What makes it even more difficult, he claims, is that while the FIT is clear, the operating standards to qualify for the schemes are not. ’This is a small industry and every system is bespoke so any standards written have to be wide enough to cater for that but unlike 10 years ago there is now a big effort in setting these standards.’

Despite difficulties in getting microhydro schemes started, opportunities to get real returns on established projects are proving popular. Welsh heads up h2oPE, a social enterprise that aims to get investors involved in community hydroelectric schemes. The group has recently launched a £1m social share offer to finance three community-led hydroelectric projects. People can invest anything from £250 to £20,000 and the company estimates they will get a three per cent return in the first five years, rising to five per cent thereafter.