There is no denying that the University of Reading is a leading force in climate change awareness and has championed the move to sustainability. This year we were named Sustainable University of The Year in ‘The Times Good University Guide’.
The surrounding town of Reading is also moving ahead on net-zero policies and has welcomed many independent sustainability initiatives. On behalf of The Spark, Kallum Price contacted Reading Hydro, an independent hydroelectric scheme based across Caversham Weir, to discuss the effects of climate change on their operation.
Credit: Reading Hydro @ ReadingHydro.org
Reading Hydro operate as a community benefit scheme (CBS), meaning they are committed to redistribute their profits amongst the community. Their hydroelectric scheme uses a screw turbine to generate power via the River Thames’ falling water level. With their operations beginning in 2021, they expected to generate 320 MWh of energy per year — or 90 households worth.
Developed partly by an ex-Reading professor of renewable energy, the scheme’s model took into account -
“17 years historic data on flow and levels. The model [also] took into account periods when the head or flow would be insufficient, and also allowed for downtime for scheduled and emergency maintenance. Although the modelling suggested significant variation from year to year, these years are all at the lower end of what we’d expect” they added. As of writing, the scheme has generated 780 MWh of green energy, or 81% of the estimated generation over three years. In asking why this was the case, they responded “it took time to sort out teething problems and build up the expertise of our volunteer operations team. Significant downtime was due to extreme weather. We barely generated at all from the end of June to the beginning of November in 2022 because there was too little flow in the extremely hot dry summer.”
The summer of 2022 gave us England’s hottest day on record at 40°C. We also saw the driest period on record across the southern UK, with national headlines of water shortages and hosepipe bans. The water level of the Thames dropped below 10% of its usual flow, and Reading Hydro’s power generation shut down. This was partially due to insufficient flow, but also under an order of the Environment Agency, who require fish passes have adequate flow to protect wildlife in the area.
Amidst the drought, a phenomenon called ‘weather whiplash’ hit the nation. The term is used to describe rapid changes between extreme weather conditions, and paradoxically saw the UK declaring nationwide droughts while floods also swept the nation.
During this time, Reading’s Dr Robert Thompson (Department of Meteorology) posted a video showing the increased flood risk of dry, unabsorbant soil. Naturally, the video went viral and featured across major media sites such as the BBC, ITV and The Guardian.
This month the Environment Agency released a meeting summary which warned that extreme weather is increasing as climate change accelerates. They released this warning in conjunction with a statement that the UK has received it’s “wettest 12 months in England since 1836.”
When talking about the past year, Reading Hydro said, “we were either stopped [from generating] or generated at reduced power from November 2023 to May 2024 […] after unusually high rainfall.
“Although it’s not possible to attribute an individual extreme weather event to climate heating, the pattern of increasing extreme events is consistent with the science of climate heating science, and we expect that the impact on hydro schemes will worsen”.
Despite this, Reading Hydro emphasised that hydro has its place going forward by noting -
“Although hydro isn’t viable everywhere, it’s still a valuable part of the renewable energy mix. Unlike solar panels, the output from hydro plants doesn’t vary much with the seasons, and they don’t stop generating at night!”
It is crucial to act now in order to mitigate the ongoing threat of extreme weather and climate change as a whole. As weather whiplash events are becoming more common, as does the viability of clean, hydroelectric power. The Environment Agency’s discussion was summarised with pledges on improving household water infrastructure, new legislation to make water companies environmentally accountable and focus on the ongoing river restoration schemes which may become a flood deterrent.
Reading Hydro welcomes students from the University of Reading’s Institute of Education to help develop educational resources and present talks to school groups. These can be either on-site or in schools and contribute as volunteering hours towards the RED Awards.
If you are interested in volunteering with Reading Hydro, contact: volunteer@readinghydro.org
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