Scottish hydro power untapped

By Andrew Bolger
Published: September 3 2008 03:00

Scotland has enough untapped hydro electricity potential to power a quarter of its homes.
A study carried out for the Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland, which brings together ministers, companies and environmental bodies, shows there are still 657MW of financially viable hydro electricity schemes to exploit. That would power around 600,000 homes and is about half the amount of installed hydro capacity already in Scotland.
Jim Mather, energy minister at Holyrood, said: "It is clear there is huge untapped potential - and a sustainable and profitable future - in smaller and micro hydro schemes. Each scheme would have to be assessed on its own merits, but if we can turn the tap on to new hydro power we can tackle climate change and continue to stimulate economic growth."
Andrew Bolger
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008