Renewable Energy
Across much of the world there are multiple opportunities for renewable power generation and energy storage.
Hydropower is often viewed as solely an energy technology.
Yet water has always done more than generate power.
It shapes landscapes, supports communities and creates opportunity.
With small river hydro’, the question is not simply how much energy can be produced.
The question is how many other benefits can be created by guaranteeing this same flow of water;
from biodiversity gains to local wealth retention.
Ynni Ogwen Hydropower
A 100kW Ossberger turbine provided by Water21, installed by Derwent Hydro for Partneriaeth Ogwen (Ogwen Partnership) and Ynni Ogwen Cyf (Ogwen Energy Ltd), 2017. A community owned scheme with most funds raised locally. At planning stage, the financial returns were estimated to be further multiplied within local economy by a factor of 4.5 additional business turnover – it has proven to be well over twice this.
https://www.derwent-hydro.co.uk/case-study-ynni-ogwen-hydro/
https://communityenergy.wales/our-work/energy-generation/ynni-ogwen
Howden Hydropower
A 305kW Ossberger turbine provided by Water21, installed by MWH Treatment for Severn Trent Water, 2017. Making use of overspill water that is surplus to water supply requirements. Retrofitting existing assets for renewable energy. Rob Bendall (pic credit)
https://waterprojectsonline.com/case-studies/howden-mini-hydroelectric-project/
Whiteadder Hydropower
A 199kW Ossberger turbine provided by Water21, installed by Scottish Water Horizons and Emtec Energy, in partnership with Dulas for Scottish Water, 2024. Making use of overspill water with a novel syphon penstock that enabled installation without costly engineering cutting through the earth dam – and provided an important new feature; additional emergency drain down capacity in case of heavy rain.
Who We Represent
Biomass is often viewed solely as an energy technology. Yet such organic materials have always done more than generate power. They can connect farming, biodiversity, landscapes and communities.
With biomass, the question is not simply how much energy can be produced, typically 20% of total energy demand in most regions.
The question is how many other benefits can be created by turning local organic materials into valuable resources—from safe waste nutrient recycling to healthier soils to local employment, income, energy and climate security.
Living Water Infrastructure
Private Estate Living Water Infrastructure
Transforming wastewater into landscape value.
For more than 35 years, this living landscape has demonstrated that wastewater can become a resource rather than a disposal problem.
Designed to serve a large rural estate, the system uses phytoremediation—the combined action of plants, soils and microbial communities—to naturally cleanse wastewater while rebuilding ecological health.
The result is more than clean water. It produces renewable biomass, stores carbon, creates wildlife habitat and continually improves the landscape it serves.
200-person capacity • 35+ years continuous operation
Natural water purification • Renewable biomass • Biodiversity gain • Carbon storage
From Claypits to Sudan
Water21’s work spans local demonstration projects, private estates and international projects, but each began with the same question:
What happens when we design with the landscape instead of against it?
The answer has been remarkably consistent. Living systems can clean water, rebuild soils, reduce flooding, restore biodiversity, support productive agriculture and create lasting value for communities.
These are not isolated projects. They are chapters in a forty-year body of evidence showing that landscapes themselves can become infrastructure, even when dealing with some of the most toxic waste.
Sudan projects at 9 locations developed & installed with Dr Lucian Gill, Oceans-ESU
Who We Represent
