Cleardale Hydro

The Cleardale Hydro scheme is situated on Little River in central Canterbury.  Little River is a steep, shingle bed creek that rises in the Mt Hutt range, approximately 20 km north west of Methven.  Although the creek dries up during the summer months as water levels drop below the shingle bed, Little River does have a reasonable winter flow over a short section and a good elevation at the proposed intake site - in the right proportions to generate hydro electricity.

Borne out of a need for a small amount of irrigation water by the local landowner, MainPower has developed a proposal to utilize the driving force of the water on its journey from the intake to generate electricity.  The scheme could produce up to 900kW of power, enough electricity to power around 400 average sized homes. A small proportion of the abstracted water will be required for irrigation and the remaining water will be returned to the Little River just above the Blackford Road Bridge.

In January this year MainPower obtained resource consent for the Cleardale Hydro Generation proposal.  The project is currently being assessed on its merits.  Details of the scheme can be obtained from MainPower by contacting us on generation@mainpower.co.nz