Investigation of barriers against the development of hydro power schemes in Northwest England

This paper describes the development of a sequential decision support
system to promote hydroelectric power in North-West England. The system,
composed of a series of integrated models, addresses barriers to the installation of
hydroelectric power schemes. Information is linked through an economic
assessment which identifies different turbine options, assesses their suitability for
location and demand; and combines the different types of information in a way
that supports decision making.
The system is structured into five components: the hydrological resource is
modelled using Low Flows software, the turbine options are identified from
hydrological, environmental and demand requirements; and the consequences of
different solutions will be fed into other components so that the environmental
impacts and public acceptability can be assessed and valued.