Installations need to prevent damage to local fish stocks and will normally include protective screens and the addition of a new or upgraded fish pass. Micro-hydro turbines generate renewable electricity from water. Energy in water at height (high head hydro) or water falling at least one metre (run of the river hydro) rotates turbines to generate electricity. The water may have to be extracted from a river or directed to a inlet on an existing weir to pass through the turbine. Electricity is generated in a powerhouse from which it is then connected to the Grid or to local users such as a mill, dwellings or commercial premises. Weirs and redundant mills are often utilised for hydropower schemes.

Rainfall in the UK is an ongoing renewable energy source There are likely to be a good number of run of the river sites for micro hydropower yet to be exploited across the UK. Cuts carbon footprint: hydro electricity is renewable energy. Lowers fuel bills Earns Feed-in Tariffs (FITs): micro-hydro is eligible for FITs It has no disposal issues as with solar PV. Large scale hydroelectric power plants generate a lot more, but have all sorts of damaging environmental and social impacts. Micro-hydro has none of these drawbacks. As concerns about climate change and fuel security grow, hydro-power is getting a fair bit of attention as a small, clean electricity source that can fit perfectly into a decentralised energy system. If not careful, there could be effects on wildlife, which need to be prevented or carefully mitigated. This can add costs to micro-hydro schemes.

Gants Mill in western England has been harnessing water power for nearly a millennium. And now, it powers a turbine generating enough hydroelectric power to supply ten homes. Scotland has been successfully utilising hydro power in the Highlands for over seventy years and is an ideal hydro location with its mountainous terrain, lochs and rivers and a high average rainfall. There are many suitable sites in the Highlands for the development of small hydro electric schemes. These small schemes are often sited in environmentally sensitive areas and can be housed either underground or in existing buildings, with little or no visible impact on the landscape or harm to the environment. Micro-hydro power in the South of England