New research has revealed that Scotland is the undisputed home of UK hydro with 100% of consented projects located north of the border.
Scottish Renewables said today that 58.5MW of hydro has planning approval in Scotland across some 27 schemes. Around half of this total is already in construction, it said.
The industry body’s research – released today ahead of a hydro conference in May – shows that no proposed projects in England, Wales or Northern Ireland have secured planning consent.
Scottish Renewables policy officer Hannah Smith said: “Scotland’s terrain and rainfall mean the country is ideal for the development of hydroelectricity, but the rest of the UK has historically invested in this technology too.
“These figures show that a huge cut to support in the UK Government’s Feed-in Tariff review in December has already caused a contraction in the number of schemes being developed and, it seems, a geographical withdrawal to hydro’s traditional heartland.”
Image: RWE’s 2.7MW Cia Aig hydro facility in the Scottish Highlands (RWE)
