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Power from our waterways

Posted on Thursday, 20 November 2008 09:09AM by
British Waterways has begun a £150 million scheme to build 50 wind turbines and a handful of hydro-electric power projects along the 2,200 miles of canals, rivers, docks and weirs that it manages.  The scheme should produce approximately 100 megawatts of renewable electricity, ten times more than the entire canal system currently uses for their own purposes, and sufficient power for 45,000 homes.

The scheme, which is being managed by Partnership for Renewables (PfR), a company jointly owned by the Carbon Trust and HSBC’s Environmental Infrastructure Fund, will use sites along the canal network to generate electricity either for the National Grid or directly for local consumers, such as bankside offices or warehouse buildings.

Site assessments are already underway, and consultations with local residents are about to begin regarding the possible environmental impact.  2011 should see the first turbine in operation.

Canal water is already used for the cooling and heating of large buildings along the network, through heat-pump exchanges.  The University of Huddersfield and the BBC studios in Birmingham are just two organisations currently taking advantage of power provided by their local waterways.
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