Hydroelectricity for public supply in Britain, 1881ߝ1894

As it was the general nineteenth-century experience that water power was cheaper than steam power, it was natural that as electricity began to come into use for public supply in the 1880s, a good deal of development of hydroelectricity took place, especially in America and those countries of Europe where water power was more plentiful and coal rather scarcer than in Britain. It is interesting, however, that even in Britain there was some use of hydroelectricity. Numerous small, and later a few large, installations were made for private and industrial purposes, but there were or had been, by 1894, at least eight hydroelectric generating stations used for public supply. It is these stations that form the subject of the paper. Their early history and design is described, and some conclusions are drawn from their experiences.