Small-scale hydropower harnessed by CLR Learners and Followers

On June 24th, the AQUA association led a workshop on hidden micro-hydroelectricity at the European congress on energy transition in Strasbourg, a key annual event for local and regional authorities in France. It was a perfect opportunity for Clément Van Straaten and Elodie Denizart, both SPOCs of the Support service for Citizen-led renovation Phase II, to present this European initiative and the work done around the six French projects of energy communities part of this phase. The renovation and reactivation of ancient water mills to produce small-scale hydropower is indeed a subject of great interest at the EU and national levels, as confirmed by the two other speakers: Lilian Geney, small hydro referent at the national agency Ademe, and Stephen Midgley, in charge of the European Renewat project at Syndicat d'Energies de Haute-Vienne. Together with other topics of hidden hydropower, such as collective self-consumption, pumped-storage energy transfer stations, and the turbining of drinking or waste water, the CLR initiative found its place.