Hydro Introduction
Global hydro-electric output continues to grow. The large and ambitious schemes being planned in China and India are matched by the uptake of Pico Hydro electric systems in areas of poor grid connection and ample water. The improved feed in tariffs for small and medium sized hydro schemes across Europe has meant a surge of installations in the range of 1-20 MW.

Pico Hydro
Much of the world’s higher latitudes, especially mountainous areas have a vast potential for providing local off-grid generation from 100 watts upwards. Vietnam is estimated to have at least 100,000 Chinese-made Pico Hydro systems connected DIY- style directly into people’s homes.

Large Hydro
The large new build projects such as those China and India are embarking aim to network their main water courses and grid systems to enable national distribution of their huge hydro electric resources. Such huge national civil engineering programmes bring problems beyond the technical. The displacement of large numbers of communities, loss of valuable fertile land and a wide range of ecological issues must be weighed against the importance of securing the necessary renewable energy generation capacity to help develop their economies.

Conservation & Dam Removal
Alongside the issues of pollution and over-fishing, large hydroelectric schemes are increasingly coming under fire from those working to save the many endangered migratory fish species such as Salmon and Sturgeon. In many states of America, pressure from angling and conservation has already resulted in the dismantling of many small dams, in order to facilitate the reintroduction of breeding populations to upper sections where they may have become scare or indeed extinct.