Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of the value-for-money of levels of abstraction license fees for hydropower schemes in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) other countries.

Determining abstraction licences for hydropower projects is a complex activity due to the risks to the environment and water users.

Hydropower application charges are based on a scheme’s output power and its risk rating. Annual subsistence charges cover costs to protect the environment and the rights of licence holders. There is no annual fee for hydropower licences for electricity production of up to 5 megawatts.

The Environment Agency (EA) does not receive any government funding to subsidise application or annual charges. The EA charging scheme sets out the charges for hydropower schemes.