Hydropower includes hydroelectric and hydrokinetic resources. Hydro methods exploit the kinetic energy of moving water to generate power that can be used.
Hydrokinetic
Hydrokinetic systems use moving water to drive mechanical systems allowing the energy in the water to be exploited. This is the oldest method of exploiting moving water and one of the simplest examples is a waterwheel like those found in watermills. There are many watermills located across the UK with some open to visit. The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) Mills Section has a wide range of resources on their website including details of mills open to the public. Visit www.spab.org.uk/mills to find out more.
Hydroelectric
Hydroelectric systems use moving water to generate electricity. The renewable electricity generated can be used locally or fed into the National Grid. There are a number of large scale schemes with visitor centres in the UK. These include: