Hydro supplements Welsh farm incomes

Sunday, October 4, 2015

TGV Hydro has received an Ashden Award for developing micro-hydro schemes for private and community ownership across Wales, helping to regenerate hill-farming communities hurt by low lamb prices, cuts to Common Agricultural Policy subsidies and an increasingly volatile climate.

As of June, 23 micro sites had been developed, mostly on farmland. Farmers' incomes are supplemented as excess electricity can be sold into the national grid. According to a press release, a 15 kW turbine produces as much income for a farmer as a flock of sheep and pays for itself within a few years.

Wales recently committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and wind turbines help reduce the use of hydrocarbons. Ashden "champions and supports sustainable energy leaders to accelerate the transition to a low carbon world," according to its website. BF