ABSTRACT
Most people learn at school about the role that hydropower played in the Industrial Revolution, and there is a general feeling that each disused mill site and water-wheel on every river presents a virtually free source of energy going to waste continuously and that it should be possible to harness it once more for the general good. This chapter covers ‘small’ hydro projects generally, it should be noted that most existing sites within the UK water industry will be in the ‘micro’ range, i.e. less than 500kW – a notable example being Kielder Reservoir in Northumberland. Under the Non-Fossil Fuels Obligation, the government has imposed an obligation on the regional companies to purchase energy from renewable sources. The cross-flow turbine is a partial admission radial-impulse-type low-speed turbine. A speed-increasing gear or belt-drive arrangement is normally selected to permit cheaper high-speed generator designs to be used.
