In recent years, the world has seen a growing demand for clean, renewable energy sources. With the increasing awareness of environmental degradation, the need for sustainable and eco-friendly energy solutions has become more pressing. In this context, hydroelectric power has emerged as a crucial source of clean energy, capable of providing electricity to remote areas using sustainable and fish-safe hydropower. With their new compact hydroelectric turbine, Natel Energy and Symbion Power are set to bring this innovative technology to communities around the world, especially in remote and underdeveloped areas.
What is Hydroelectric Power?
Hydroelectric power is a clean, renewable source of energy that harnesses the power of moving or falling water to generate electricity. This power is captured by a turbine, which then spins a generator to produce electricity. Hydroelectric power has been used to generate electricity for communities around the world, from small-scale electric generators to massive dams. One of the primary benefits of hydroelectric power is that it is a clean and renewable source of energy that does not produce any pollutants or emissions.
The Challenge of River-based Turbines
However, the use of hydroelectric power also presents its own set of challenges. For example, large dams can be detrimental to wildlife and cause negative impacts if they break. On the other hand, river-based turbines can cause issues for local fish, meaning covers must be used to prevent them from going in, which is expensive and creates additional complexity. Additionally, river-based turbines must be designed for low hydraulic heads, which is typically measured as a length (like meters or feet) and represents the pressure at a certain point in the fluid.
The Innovative Compact Hydroelectric Turbine from Natel Energy and Symbion Power
To address these challenges, Natel Energy has invented their new compact hydroelectric turbine, designed to have a safe and efficient fish passage. The turbine features curved blades that are thick and have a specially designed slant, making it possible for fish to swim through safely and eliminating the need for fine fish screens. Additionally, this innovative design reduces operational and development costs and increases plant efficiency. The turbine’s capacities range from 30 kW to 3 MW, and it can be integrated into matrix designs for larger scale developments of up to 30 MW.
The Advantages of Natel Energy’s Compact Hydroelectric Turbine
Natel Energy’s compact hydroelectric turbine has demonstrated fish passage survival rates of over 99%, which is similar to that of a fish traversing a natural river section. The turbine manages this at efficiencies greater than 90%, which is extremely good for a small turbine of this size. The turbines are available with runner diameters measuring just 0.5 meters to 2.5 meters, making them compact and modular. Furthermore, they are designed for low head applications, making them an ideal solution for remote areas where grid electricity is not available.
My Hydro – A New Venture from Natel Energy and Symbion Power
Natel Energy and Symbion Power have launched a new venture called My Hydro, a Pan African power investor, which plans to install Natel’s new compact hydro turbine in 33 potential sites throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo. This will not be the first tests for Natel’s turbines, as one has been extensively tested at their Monroe Hydro Facility, which was commissioned in September 2020 using a 300 kilowatt turbine and 5 meters of hydraulic head. The first project in Africa will be on the Lubi River in the Kasai Province, where grid electricity is not available and the population exceeds more than 4 million people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Natel Energy and Symbion Power’s new compact hydroelectric turbine offers a solution to bringing much-needed electricity to remote areas while being sustainable, fish-safe, and significantly cheaper than off-grid solar. The turbine design features curved blades that eliminate the need for fine fish screens, reducing operational costs and increasing plant efficiency. With capacities ranging from 30 kW to 3 MW and the ability to be integrated into larger matrix designs, the turbine is designed for low head applications and has demonstrated over 99% fish passage survival rates. The turbine has been tested extensively, including at Monroe Hydro Facility and a successful deployment in Austria. The first project in Africa is set to begin in 2024 and aims to bring electricity to areas without grid access in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The new compact hydroelectric turbine is an exciting advancement in the field of sustainable energy, and we can expect to see more of it in the future.
I would absolutely love a tiny turbine system for my rural property in Northern Alberta! We have an artesian well that runs into a little creek. Not only that Alberta currently has a program would buy back any surplus energy we’d create. I wonder what their smallest turbine would cost?
I really like this new hydro turbine. I hope we start implementing it all over and getting rid of old river dams. {I truly believe, The more our surroundings flourish, the more we all flourish.} With how bad I’ve been seeing “water level/droughts” in the Western America lately. I really hope we not only reintroduce Beavers all over to influence more water collection to important area’s that we can use to supply crops, deal with forest fires. Instead of running our water straight back out to the sea or blocking the rivers natural process for the ecosystem to thrive.
We’ve really messed up natural waterways from poorly designed hydroelectric projects. Before we knew how much negative impact they have on our Ecosystem’s biodiversity, water oxygen levels, algae blooms, nutrient flow from inland location’s to off shore location’s. In some areas like where I live in NW Oregon, rivers are a direct connection from the ocean to the inland ecosystems. Keeping the rivers free is how we keep those ecosystems flourishing which directly connects to our qualities of Life. Our natural waterways are crucial aspects of the entire overall health of every aspect of our environment and anything that connects to that environment. In Oregon, we had some of the best Salmon runs on the planet and lush inland forests, wetland ecosystems, beaver’s that created special habitats that held extra water/fire safety and all that got totally flipped upside down from all the hydro dams they built in the early 1900s, and many other practices we once commonly did. Before we knew or understood the negative effects and outcomes that comes from altering them into man made waterways. So I really hope to see tons of projects that are working on rewilding areas for the sole purpose of reestablishing ecosystem’s that once flourished. Because Humans inherently do better when their environment is doing better. It provides a ton of benefit to it’s people and to the quality of Life as a whole for not just humans but the entire ecosystem around you which will definitely have positive impacts to so many layers to people’s life’s and your community as a whole.
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This is why we need to invest in modern advanced nuclear energy options. Small form reactors, LFTRs, Thorium Reactors, liquid reactors. Utilizing our advanced modern technology, engineering, material science, safety measures understandings and designs, computer technology, robotics, It will really allow any nation to be pretty much be energy independent. Less reliant on fossil fuels. They’ll have efficient, stable electrical grids and the rest of the grid could experiment with alternative power sources, etc.
We need to heal from the trauma of our past and see that it came solely from Us not understanding what we were doing, not have advanced enough technology, material science, engineering, safety measures, understanding of how to go about everything, etc. This source of energy will greatly help the world improve towards the future and lowering emissions more than anything else could while having a very stable electrical grid system. Currently we have alternative energy options but the majority of our grid is powered off of fossil fuels and emission producing sources of energy. We will be so much better going forward commiting to modern advanced nuclear energy options.
This might be a great idea in some countries. Unfortunately, there are many countries that lack terrain providing sufficient falls to allow these to function. Given transmission losses, these are unlikely to resolve the shortages already being encountered- much less replace power stations on anything like a reliable basis. Norway is an ideal country for these, given most of the country is several hundred feet above sea level. In the UK, the middle of the country is only around 30mtrs above sea level & the shortest distance to the sea is around 80 miles, the lengths of existing rivers are in excess of 100 miles, resulting in flows slower than walking pace & no opportunity for any kind of useful gradient. Reservoirs are frequently low due to the need for drinking water & few have useful height dams. It’s a similar problem with wind turbines that only produce useful energy with wind speeds over 10km/hour with wind speeds in the UK averaging something like 6 to 7km/hour. Solar is also pretty useless from October to March, due to lack of any collectable sunlight. This I know as I had a solar-powered water heater, which converted 90% of collected energy into heat. It was matched with a solar-powered low-energy pump to circulate it into my home. In spite of having it on a south-facing roof, with optimized tilt positions, it never provided any useful hot water over the 6 months it would have been most useful. Even on the sunniest days through October to March, the water inlet pipe was always cold to the touch. We need nuclear power, not windmills or flat screens with limited lifespans and unreliable energy.