Hydro power a good investment?

A WEST WALES company claims that generating electricity using hydro power can give farmers and landowners up to 8% return on their investment.

Dulas Ltd, a specialist renewable energy company based at Machynlleth in Powys, is offering farmers throughout Wales free desktop feasibility studies to assess whether their holdings are suitable.

It suggests that a £250,000 investment can bring in £17,000 a year over the minimum 25 year life of one of its systems.

Where individual or groups of farmers do not have that sort of money, the company is also prepared to finance the whole project and pay an annual rent on the water resource.

Those providing the land must be able to offer a water course with a catchment area of between 5 and 10 sq km of upland bog or moor.

There also needs to be a minimum fall of 50m over 0.5km, though a 100m drop is preferred.

“Hydro makes sense for farmers because they can do much of the work themselves,” says Ian Draisey, the company‘s marketing director.

While designing and commissioning the inlets and turbine needs to be done by professionals, installing the pipeline and much of the groundwork can be done using ordinary farm equipment.

For generations hydro power was used generate electricity on Welsh farms and, in some cases, long abandoned systems can be re-commissioned.

This occurred at Maesglas in the Dyfi Valley, where a 1930‘s pelton wheel was reconditioned in 2002.

It has been linked to state of the art electronics in a 100kw grid connected scheme. The power generated is sold under an NFFO contract.

Dulas is also involved in solar power generation and is building biomass utilisation installations in Wales.