British Waterways has today announced plans to generate renewable energy at canal and riverside locations across the UK. Working with Partnerships for Renewables, British Waterways is the first public corporation to explore opportunities for wind turbines and small-scale hydro power schemes. The proposals, which could provide annual savings in excess of 100,000 tonnes of CO2, would generate enough power for 45,000 homes, the equivalent to the canalside town of Blackburn.

The proposals are based on a target of 50 wind turbines built across the UK over the next five years that will have the capacity to generate 100 mega watts of renewable electricity. Income that British Waterways generates from the turbines will be reinvested into maintaining the nation’s historic waterways.


Robin Evans, British Waterways Chief Executive, said: "This is a real example of a public organisation using its land in innovative ways to generate additional income and work towards a more sustainable future. We look after 2,200 miles of canals and rivers throughout the UK and, whilst always protecting their heritage, are proactively looking at how we can use this resource to make a contribution towards the fight against climate change.

"We believe that our waterside land could host around 100 megawatts of renewable energy capacity - some 219,000 mega watt hours. If we successfully develop this resource it would mean that the nation’s canal network would generate more than ten times more electricity than it consumes."

Partnerships for Renewables, with the backing of HSBC's Environmental Infrastructure Fund, will be covering the costs of the development process and using their in-house expertise to ensure that only environmentally appropriate sites are developed.

(CD/JM)