Cleardale Visit - January 2011

Cleardale is a boutique run of river hydro nestled into a mountain stream in the Mt Hutt Range. 

The scheme is a result of a need by the landowner to extract a small amount of water for irrigation. 

The river, known as Little River, provides an excellent flow of water for hydro generation.  Water not used for the irrigation is returned to Little River.

^{Trustees at the intake of the power scheme}

^{Understanding the water flow into the power house}

MainPower has a vision for energy self efficiency for North Canterbury through small to medium renewable energy generation projects. 

Cleardale will produce up to 900kw of electricity – enough power to satisfy the demands of around 400 average sized homes.

Cleardale commenced generation on 23 December 2010. 

To learn more about Cleardale visit http://www.localgeneration.co.nz/cleardale-hydro/

^{A tour of the Cleardale power house}