When a hydroelectric power facility is designed, acquiring the environmental impacts statements and licensing can be very tedious. Most hydroelectric facilities are extremely big and loud which causes many environmental problems. If a facility can be built that is a fraction of the size with the same power output it would save large amounts of materials, resources and money.
With the prices of nearly everything in the world on a continual rise, innovative and efficient designs of hydroelectric facilities are taking the world by storm. Before a facility can be built the engineer has to acquire environmental impacts statements and licensing. For example, the Grey Bull hydroelectric facilities preliminary cost estimate for environment impacts and licensing was about $450,000. For small projects like the Grey Bull facility, an upfront cost of nearly half a million would make the project unfeasible. The time and money saved by incorporating a smaller facility would benefit everybody involved with the project.
The size of the projects footprint on the environment is another important issue to consider. Smaller projects require less materials, workers, maintenance and land. Materials that are used to build a hydroelectric facility are energy intensive. Cement, steel, wood and many other materials take large amounts of power to create and transport to the project location. If fewer materials are needed then the environment is benefiting.
The article below from science daily, talks about the development of smaller hydroelectric facilities.
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