There has been a six-fold increase in the number of hydropower schemes planned in England and Wales since 2008, the Environment Agency has announced.

In 2010 the Environment Agency granted licences for 65 schemes, compared with 10 in 2008.

To assist the communities, developers and individuals looking to capitalise on Government incentives to produce renewable electricity, the Environment Agency has simplified the application process to install hydropower schemes. There will be no change to the standards of environmental protection as a result.

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Hydropower schemes can have complicated impacts, including changing river flows, which in turn can affect fish migration and downstream habitats as well as introducing flood risk. To ensure the environment and river life are protected, a range of permissions covering abstraction, fish movement and flood defence, are required from the Environment Agency.

It will now be more straightforward to make an application. Simpler application forms will be published on the Environment Agency’s website during February 2011. Environment Agency teams throughout England and Wales will provide early advice to developers of hydropower schemes to help them produce well-designed sustainable schemes.

Working with partners

The Environment Agency has been working with industry, anglers, NGOs and landowners on ways to improve the existing permitting process. These improvements will not need any changes to the complex legal framework around the various permissions and have been implemented in response to the growing interest in hydropower.

(CD/KMcA)