Micro Hydro Association

I am delighted to say that my invitation for someone to take over as administrator of the mha has been taken up by Kate Gilmartin.

Kate has excellent credentials having herself set up a forum for communities with potential hydropower schemes to share information and experiences and act as a mutual support group.  Kate also acts as an independent advisor on CO2 reduction and is an Associate of CO2Sense.

The mha administrator's email address will remain unchanged and for the time being the website will be kept in the same format as now.  Following a handover period, during which I will remain involved, Kate will be writing to outline any proposed developments in the structure and constitution of the mha and in its links with others who have similar aims.

Building up the mha's membership and its activities over the last 3+ years has been a rewarding experience and I would like to thank the many people who have responded to surveys and supported our attempts to improve the opportunities for micro hydro schemes to be developed.

Please contact Kate via [email protected] if you have ideas you would like to see considered or points you wish to raise concerning the way forward for the mha.


Gavin King-Smith

I have now drafted a response on behalf of the mha to the supplementary consultation by the Environment Agency (EA) on regulating abstraction of water for hydropower.  The response is available here.

There have been hundreds of responses from people with angling interests who have been led to believe there is a threat from hydropower schemes to the rivers they fish.  I am certain that this is not the case for the majority of the small scale hydropower schemes that you generators, potential generators, supporters, and suppliers of services are concerned with.

There are now 170 members of the mha - let all our voices be heard!

DEADLINE FOR RESPONSES: 2 APRIL 2013 23:39

I would ask you to spend the very small amount of time it will take to respond on-line to the EA consultation so that they are not faced with choosing an approach which I believe could act as an extreme constraint on any further micro hydropower development in England and Wales.

There are some concerns with “option 1” of the four options presented by the EA, but I and others deeply involved with hydropower, including the British Hydropower Association, consider it the only option of the four that can be acceptable in the short term. 

For micro hydropower I am, as you will have read before, proposing a much simplified registration process for low impact schemes.  I will be including this redraft of the proposed process with my consultation response.  The redraft incorporates amendments to cover the comments on the first draft that some of you have helpfully provided (see this version showing the amendments).  I will also now be pursuing this draft proposal with DECC, DEFRA, environment agencies and other departments and agencies.

So please submit your response to the EA consultation , even if only to select option 1 as your preferred option of the four (unless of course you disagree!).   The preferred method of response is on-line here:

https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/portal/ho/br/standards/hydro

or you can send an email or postal response to:

Eileen Falkner ([email protected], 01179344185)
Environment Agency Horizon House
Deanery Road
Bristol BS1 5AH