Micro Hydro Association

DECC have just publicised the orders that will implement the FiT changes which were announced on 22 July (see entry here).  The problem with a single band for hydro schemes in the new degression mechanism remains (once a few big schemes have been completed the tariff will drop sharply, affecting many potential smaller schemes).  There are supposed to be 40 days for parliamentary scrutiny of these orders, but they are not likely to be adjusted at this stage. The announcement came today but there are now only 4 (correction) days remaining to review the draft standard conditions which state the degression rates.

DECC's announcement and links to the documents are below:


"Following announcement of the Government Response to Consultation on Comprehensive Review Phase 2B in July, we have recently laid the two aspects of legislation in Parliament. Subject to parliamentary scrutiny, the decisions will therefore be implemented on 1 December 2012. You can view the FITs order 2012 on the legislation website.

A draft of the modifications to the standard conditions of electricity supply licences can be found on the DECC website.

Ofgem will release updates to their guidance on their website in due course.

You may also like to know that we release updated statistics relating to the FITs scheme on the DECC website each week.

Information about the degression policy can be viewed on the DECC and Ofgem websites."

A survey of industry members of the Micro hydro Association (many thanks to those who responded) has confirmed that red tape is hampering development of small scale hydropower schemes and that there is overwhelming support for a simplified registration process.

However, if this is to happen, there will still need to be appropriate safeguards to avoid poorly designed (or fraudulent) installations which are the main concern of electricity, planning and environmental regulation. 

I have set up this discussion thread  together with links to the survey summary and detailed findings (please zoom in to read the comments and  summary figures in this .pdf file).

I am now inviting all readers of this site to read the summary and to comment on whether the proposed registration criteria would be suitable.  My aim is to provide evidence to back up a submission to Government to introduce a registration process.

Please include in your comment a brief description of your role in the micro hydro world, whether as a supplier of services or products or as a potential or current generator.