A scheme that could generate electricity using water power is being looked at by Cardiff Council.
Together with the Carbon Trust, the Council is working to establish the hydropower potential at the Radyr Weir site in the north of the city, following an approach from a hydropower company.
The potential scheme fits into the Council agenda of finding new ways to develop renewable energy sources, cutting carbon emissions and working towards the goal of Cardiff becoming a Carbon Lite city.
Cardiff Council owns Radyr Weir and the land immediately adjacent on the eastern bank.
New Government regulations which allow local authorities to sell electricity generated from renewable sources would give Cardiff Council the potential to sell any electricity generated to the National Grid.
A feasibility study has been jointly commissioned by the Council and the Carbon Trust to investigate the considerable potential of the scheme.
Executive Member for Environment, Cllr Margaret Jones, said: “This is an exciting innovative opportunity which we are keen to see explored.
“Hydropower is a clean, domestic and renewable source of energy which traditionally provides inexpensive electricity and produces no pollution. And, unlike other energy sources such as fossil fuels, water is not destroyed during the production of electricity so it can be reused for other purposes. It is therefore a good, environmentally-friendly source of energy production.”
Council Leader, Rodney Berman, said: “Earlier this year I launched the Carbon Lite Cardiff Action Plan which includes many challenging objectives to progress sustainable development across the city.
“This scheme fits perfectly into that plan and any new ways to develop renewable energy sources are to be welcomed as part of our effort to reduce carbon emissions. This is an issue I am passionate about as the effects of climate change will be felt, not only in Cardiff, but across the whole of the UK in years to come. We need to be thinking long term and be fully committed to the principle of carbon reduction as we drive the city forward towards a greener future.”
