We’ve recently become involved in an interesting hydropower project in the Greater Glasgow area. The first stage of the project was to assess hydropower potential for the site, which comprises a wide-ranging network of lochs, reservoirs and watercourses in some mid-altitude hills. We then undertook a topographic survey of part of the site and undertook an environmental scoping exercise. The next stage will be to install flow gauging stations at a number of points and calculate the patterns of discharge from the catchments over a period of 12 months. This data can be used to size the turbine properly, which in turn ensures that the scheme delivers the best benefits to the landowner.
