Dam good hydropower project ‘also better for salmon’

A hydropower project with a gate for salmon to pass through on the River Dee in Scotland reeled in planning approval. The Culter Burn hydroelectric scheme is based at a […]

A hydropower project with a gate for salmon to pass through on the River Dee in Scotland reeled in planning approval.

The Culter Burn hydroelectric scheme is based at a derelict five metre high dam built originally for a paper mill.

The plans are for an Archimides Screw-powered turbine within an Aberdeen granite power house and a fish pass to allow migrating salmon further upstream. This will let them establish populations further afield, according to councillors who approved the project.

The turbine will generate 430 MWh of energy and save 233 tonnes of carbon emissions a year. The energy will be pumped into the national grid.

The project is in the River Dee Special Area of Conservation which counts otters, freshwater pearl mussel and Atlantic salmon among its protected species.

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