Small scale hydropower can provide stream of new jobs to rural regions

Micro-hydro energy schemes offer significant opportunities to regenerate deprived areas, but must overcome start-up costs and declining subsidies

Micro-hydro, the generation of electricity from small streams, has begun to take off in rural Wales. The country's geography makes small-scale hydropower a viable alternative source of energy and, for struggling rural areas, a source of income and jobs.

Wales has long exploited its natural advantages in waterpower, from pre-industrial mills to six large hydropower schemes today. The vast Dinorwig plant alone generates 1,728MW, meeting peak-time electricity demand across the country. A typical micro-hydro installation, by contrast, will produce well under 50kW, although some run as high as 0.5MW.