1. Who is eligible for a Freeflow Hydro Micro-Hydro System?
2. How long do I need to wait before a site survey is carried out?
3. What happens if my site is not suitable?
4. Do I need to apply for Planning Permission?
5. Do I need to talk to SEPA?
6. What are the hidden costs?
7. I'm tied in to a long deal with my existing energy supplier, do I have to switch my energy supplier?
8. Will the free-lease be maintained for the life time of the scheme?
9. How long will the scheme last?
10. What will happen if the scheme comes to an end?
11. Can I buy the micro-hydro system?
12. Can I keep the ROC/feed-in tariff payments?
13. How much electricity will the micro-hydro system generate?
14. What happens if my stream/burn freezes in the Winter?
15. What happens during a power cut?
16. What happens if my existing electricity supply and fuse box is of a poor electrical standard?

1. Who Is Eligible for a Freeflow Hydro Micro-Hydro System?
A: Anyone can apply to have one of our micro-hydro turbines installed. The best sites will be those with a small stream, burn, mill dam, reservoir or other water course with a reasonably consistent flow throughout the year.  We will assess the flow rate and head height of your water course during the site survey, and will calculate how much power is available from it.  Please note that our initial roll-out covers mainland Scotland only. 

2. How long do I need to wait before a site survey is carried out?
A: We will make contact with you within 2 weeks of applying online, whereupon our surveyors will introduce themselves to discuss suitable dates for the survey.  Depending on the response to our free micro-hydro turbine offer, which we expect to be significant, we may not be able to carry out your survey immediately, but will endeavour to survey your site in a timely manner.

3. What happens if my site is not suitable?
A: Should your water course be insufficient to generate any reasonable power levels, you will unfortunately not qualify for one of our free turbines.  There may be instances where we can work with you to overcome some borderline cases, such that you still receive a system. However, this may involve you carrying our certain works in order to make your site feasible. We will attempt to find solutions which will result in as many sites as possible qualifying for our scheme. If we cannot find such solutions, we will issue you with a £345 voucher (£300+VAT) which you can redeem against the purchase of any other technology offered though our participating installers. This voucher will be valid for 12 months from the date of issue.

4. Do I need to apply for Planning Permission?
You may require Planning Consent and permission from the land owner (if not you), and we would encourage you to discuss your plans with your local Planning Office at your earliest convenience.  Should you require such permission, we will work with you and your Planning Officer to gain that permission for you. There may be charges for this, which are applied by the Planning department, not by Freeflow Hydro.

5. Do I need to talk to SEPA?
Your Planning Office will almost certainly contact SEPA as part of your planning application. They will discuss your installation before deciding on what licences would be required.  Should SEPA insist on a specific licence being purchased, Freeflow Hydro will work with you to gain such licenses,  which may result in charges being applied by them.

6. What are the hidden costs?
Planning and SEPA licences are the only costs that are currently uncertain, but to this end, Freeflow Hydro are working to reduce these costs, where applicable, and hope to have these reduced or removed at some later date. We charge a site survey fee of £300 + VAT (£345) in order to ascertain which sites are suitable for one (or more) of our free micro-hydro turbines. Should your site be suitable, our systems will be installed and maintained free of charge.

7. I'm tied in to a long deal with my existing energy supplier.  Do I have to switch my energy supplier?
Yes, our preferred scheme suppliers Scottish Hydro Electric will become your new supplier when you enter our free micro-hydro scheme.  If you are currently tied to another supplier, you will have to weigh-up the cost savings that our scheme will offer, and calculate whether you would be better off staying with your existing supplier, or switching to our scheme, and Scottish Hydro Electric.  This will be discussed during the site survey if applicable.  We cannot tie any of our customers to any specific supply company, due to OFGEM regulations, but we can only operate our free turbine on your property if your supplier is with our preferred supply partner at that time.  We reserve the right to change who our preferred supplier is at any time, and would contact you to inform you of any change.

8. Will the free micro-hydro turbine be maintained for the lifetime of the scheme?
Yes, we expect you to be with us, and our preferred electricity supplier for as long as we can operate this scheme. During this time, we will maintain your micro-hydro system free of charge, and will replace any defective or worn parts at no cost.  We may ask you to carry out some simple checks of the system each day/week/month to ensure that it is operating satisfactorily.  
 
9. How long will the scheme last?
Our scheme will last as long as the Government's financial incentives exist which allow us to make a return on our hardware investment.  In reality, we will endeavour to keep this scheme operational for as long as possible, which will benefit all involved.

10. What will happen if the scheme comes to an end?
Should the financial aspects of the scheme become uneconomical, we would close it.  At that point, each of our clients would be given the option to purchase their micro-hydro turbine for an agreed fee. Should you not wish to do this, we would simply remove the system from your property, at no cost to you.

11. Can I buy the micro-hydro system?
No, our scheme relies entirely on the revenue generated from the sale of the power produced and exported from our turbines, and as such we have made the decision that we will not become a micro-hydro sales company. Should the scheme come to an end however, we would offer to sell you the micro-turbine installation for an agreed fee.

12. Can I keep the ROC/feed-in tariff payments?
Freeflow Hydro are the owners and operators of each micro-hydro turbine installation, and therefore receives its income from the sale of any power produced and exported by their installed turbines. You will be allowed to use the free electricity each micro-hydro turbine produces, and this allows both you and us to make considerable gains/savings from this scheme.

13. How much electricity will the micro-hydro system generate?
We will install turbines ranging in power from 500W to 10kW. Your water course, and its potential, will be assessed during our survey, and a decision made as to the best turbine for your property.  We will endeavour to fit the highest power turbine on your site, since it will give you the highest level of free electricity, while giving us the highest rate of return on our investment. We will consider a site "viable" if the power output from our turbines will average at least 2kW/hour over the year. This will take into account both dry and wet weather fluctuations.

14. What happens if my stream/burn freezes in the Winter?
Should this happen, your micro-hydro turbine may stop operating for a time. We will discuss how often your water course freezes in a typical year during our survey, and will assess the impact this will have on the power generated during these times.

15. What happens during a power cut?
Since our micro-hydro turbines are connected to the national grid via your existing electrical supply, during a power cut no power can be allowed to be present from the output of the micro-hydro system. This is a legal requirement, which we must abide by, and hence you will not have any power in your house/business during a power cut, either from the national grid or from our turbines.

16. What happens if my existing electricity supply and fuse box is of poor electrical standard?
We will bring this to your attention during the site survey, and will ask that you have your consumer unit (fuse box) and all associated wiring brought up to current standards before connecting our system to it. We may be able to carry out this work for you, since some of our installers are qualified electricians. We will discuss this, and agree for this work to be carried out if the need arises.