The planning process has just started for the first five plants, to be built at river weirs. It is aimed that some will be operational by next year.
The overall scheme for hydro power development is being undertaken as a partnership between British Waterways and The Small Hydro Company, and aims to generate 210GWh per year.
The Small Hydro Company develops and funds projects. Additional financial support for the early work on the waterways initiative is coming from the Ventus Fund, which is focused on UK renewable energy and is managed by Climate Change Capital.
It is expected that approximately £120M (US$172M) of private capital will be invested in the initiative over the next three years.
