| Spotlight
additional deployment. The survey of BHA members which formed part of the report supports the level of certainty provided through a bankable policy such as a Contract for Difference as a more favourable approach than an upfront grant. However, upfront grants could be more favourable for small schemes, to help offset some of the initial costs such as consenting and electrical grid connections.
3. Consideration should be given to a more coordinated approach to hydropower projects for planning and consenting and a greater sharing of best practice between the devolved environment agencies. There should be more proportionate levels of consenting fees which do not disproportionally reduce investment in the sector at the smaller scale of development. Plus more proportionate levels of valuation office business rates which do not disproportionally reduce investment at certain capacity levels, and a greater sharing of best practices between the different valuation offices across the UK.
4. There should be a single publicly available dataset for all hydropower installations in the UK that defines a unique reference number for each installation. It would be useful if this publicly available dataset had at a minimum: the capacity of the installation, the location of the installation and the date of commissioning. This would help to manage the problem of slightly (or even very different) hydropower site names that exist between different public bodies
5. A new detailed resource and techno-economic hydropower assessment should be commissioned and co-ordinated by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with input from relevant bodies from the Scottish Government, Welsh Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly. This would make use of up-to-date LIDAR data, weather data (with consideration of climate change impacts) and other assumptions to reflect advances in hydropower system designs, the wider electrical generation portfolio, electrical network connections and the challenges of reaching net-zero. The study could also consider low-head and pico-micro sized installations
In conclusion, the report states that the evidence it has presented shows that hydropower should be viewed as an increasingly useful element of the UK’s diversified electrical generation portfolio. “Hydropower is a proven and reliable technology,”
said Kate Gilmartin, CEO of the British Hydropower Association. “The UK has an established hydropower supply chain, so nearly all of the support needed to unlock this investment will stay in the UK economy, creating jobs and growth.”
Tidal technologies The BHA has also welcomed parliamentary committee
calls for the UK to generate a significant proportion of its power from tidal and marine energy. A new report, released by the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) in January 2023 after a nine-month inquiry, considered the transitional role of oil and gas in the UK’s energy mix and scrutinised the Government’s British Energy Security Strategy. The report highlights that tidal technologies get ‘scant attention’ in the strategy, despite tidal range
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having a significant benefit of predictable and reliable, year-round, energy generation. It said that tidal energy projects should be “a vital component” of the governments strategies and that the UK should be aiming to generate a significant proportion of its power from these sources by the middle of the 2030s. The government had previously withdrawn support for tidal range, stating that costs are higher than alternative sources of low-carbon power. However, a recent review undertaken by the University of Birmingham found that the tidal range is cost- competitive with other low-carbon energy projects. The BHA recommends that the government extends the support currently being received by the newly formed body called Great British Nuclear, which is receiving a £120million development fund for new projects. It should match this with Great British Tidal Range and an equal development fund to bring forward the 13GW of tidal range projects currently proposed. This should sit alongside a development road map to ensure the more urgent speed and scale of delivery that the EAC report recommends. The report states the need for grid reliability that embraces smart opportunities and requires deeper flexibility. BHA calls for pumped storage and hydropower to be considered, as the only renewable energy sources able to deliver the grid reliability highlighted in the report. An expansion in both will be needed to provide grid stability to match the growth of intermittent renewables. The BHA welcomes the call for the government to
provide a progress report in 2023 that should include the related plans to enable large scale, long duration electricity storage. All of which will be crucial to realising a secure, stable, low carbon grid. ●
Below: As an island nation the UK has abundant tidal energy resources that could be tapped
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