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U.K. Offers Financial Support to Refurbished Hydro (Update1)
2010-10-28 15:01:30.593 GMT
(Updates with details from statement from third paragraph.)
By Louise Downing
Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. Department of Energy and
Climate Change said former mills and water turbines that are
converted into hydroelectricity plants are now eligible for
financial support under the government's feed-in-tariff system.
Hydropower projects that produce as much as 5 megawatts can
claim feed-in-tariff support and those above 50 kilowatts can
claim Renewable Obligation Certificates, the department said
today on its website.
The smallest projects will receive the highest rate, or
tariff, of 19.9 pence (31.7 U.S. cents) a kilowatt-hour. Larger
installations, between 2 megawatts and 5 megawatts, will receive
4.5 pence a kilowatt-hour.
"This announcement will breathe useful life back into
thousands of schemes all over the U.K.," Gaynor Hartnell, chief
executive of the Renewable Energy Association, an industry lobby
group, said today in an e-mailed statement.
To help move projects forward, the department is also
starting a hydropower help guide. The document, prepared by the
Environment Agency, will offer advice to groups looking to use
the power of local rivers to slash emissions and generate new
income for their areas, the statement said.
Currently, hydropower in the U.K. is generating the
equivalent of 1.4 percent of electricity demand with a potential
to contribute up to a further 1 percent, which is sufficient to
power about 1 million homes, the statement said.
For Related News and Information:
Renewable-energy markets: RENE <GO>
Top renewable-energy news: GREEN <GO>
Top Stories: TOP<GO>
--Editors: Reed Landberg, Todd White
To contact the reporter on this story:
Louise Downing in London at +44-20-3216-4633 or
ldowning4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or
landberg@bloomberg.net
