UK government issues new hydro power measures
Source: Reuters News Service via Planet Ark

LONDON - UK's recently appointed Energy Minister Brian Wilson announced last week new measures to promote hydroelectric power as renewable source of energy. "The new measures would give hydro its biggest boost in 50 years," said Wilson. Under the new measures, larger hydroelectric power stations of up to 20 megawatts will be considered as renewables and receive support from the renewable obligation.

Environmentalists have so far been against including larger hydroelectric plants as renewables, because they say they can be damaging to the environment.

The new measures also include all newly built hydroelectric plants in the renewable obligation.

The obligation requires energy suppliers to supply a portion of their electricity from renewables rising to 10 percent by 2010.

The electricity is bought from renewable plants who receive a three pence per kilowatt hour (kWh) payment under the Renewable Obligation Certificate Scheme, in addition to the electricity sale price.

The payment was introduced to stimulate renewable electricity production, which is more expensive to generate and therefore less competitive.

Renewable plants are also exempt from the Climate Change Levy, a 0.43 pence/kWh levy introduced in April this year, on industries with high carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), which include fossil fuel power generation.

The government said it expected the new measures would result in the refurbishment of about 30 hydroelectric stations, private sector investment of around £250 million sterling into hydroelectric power and 200 gigawatt hours (GWh) of new renewable energy generation.

They would also create employment in Scotland where most of the UK's hydroelectric plants are based.

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