logoTall weirTurbine house in the snowLong low-head weirHydropower Consultancy, Design & Installation

Crossflow turbine installed inside historic watermillWelcome to the Renewables First website.  We are one of the UK's leading small-scale hydropower consultancy, design and installation companies, established for almost ten years with a proven track record of not only offering consultancy, but designing and constructing hydropower systems as well.  We have a highly skilled team of engineers who are both academically trained and trained through practical experience so they really know what they are talking about.  We can take a hydro project from initial feasibility study, through all of the consenting and design stages and on to installation and commissioning.  Renewables First has a large number of private and commercial customers.  We act as principal consultants for several utility companies and government quangos, along with a large number private companies and private landowners.

Click on the buttons above to learn more about the basic hydro project stages and the services we offer.  If you think you have a suitable site for development and would like to find out how we can help please use the enquiry page to contact us.  We aim to respond to all web enquiries within three working days; an experienced member of our staff will contact you.

We've assumed that by arriving on our website you already know the basics about hydropower so we haven't provided introductory webpages to explain how hydropower works.  If you would like to read an excellent introduction to the subject there is a downloadable one on the British Hydropower Association website here.

The size of projects we work on... Generally speaking we work on projects with power outputs ranging from 25 kW up to 500 kW.  We do work outside of this power range, but below 25 kW the project economics for hydro systems are not generally commercially attractive, unless less tangible (but sometimes more valuable) factors such as a positive public image or just a personal environmental commitment are taken into account.  Above 500 kW the projects are more likely to be developed directly by utility companies.  The table on the right shows the minimum flow in litres per second or cubic-metres per second you need to generate 25 kW of power for a range of different 'heads' of water (head means the change in water levels or 'drop' across the site).  Having more flow or more head is no problem, it just means more power and energy generated.  If you have less flow or head than the table indicates it is unlikely that the project would be commercially economic, but feel free to contact us if in doubt.  Please note that if you have no head (not literally) you will not be able to generate electricity.  We do not supply zero-head hydro devices and do not believe that any credible device exists, despite various dubious claims! Head of Water  Minimum Flow Rates 
2 metres  2,000 litres/s  2 m3/s 
4 metres  1,000 litres/s  1 m3/s 
10 metres  400 litres/s  0.4 m3/s 
For higher heads and flows contact us for recommendations