Category: News

Schwörstadt, 31st of October 2013: Smart Hydro Power´s turbine was installed for the first private German customer in the Rhine River. Not only was the latest submergible version of the turbine installed, but also the company´s new anchoring system. Together with Smart Hydro Power, the customer was able to receive a permit of 20 years, securing his investment and Smart Hydro Power´s first Rhine River location.

Due to the relatively slow flowing waters and high levels of debris in the Rhine River at this location, the submergible turbine was chosen as the most appropriate for the site.  Furthermore, the new anchoring system was introduced because of the site´s 10 meter deep water. Although details of the anchoring system cannot yet be revealed, the benefits include such characteristics as low-cost, lightweight, convenient for maintenance routines.

The installation itself was done by two people, within one days´ time and by means of a garden tractor which lifted the turbine into the water after which the turbine drifted into final position. After the water installation was completed, the electrical components were connected to the grid.

In this area, the Rhine River marks the border of Germany and Switzerland and has been thoroughly built up with traditional hydropower plants. Although it won’t be possible to produce the maximum amount of power at this site, the customer is happy to support new innovation and committed to providing his location as a test and showcase site for Smart Hydro Power. The company is happy about this latest installation, “This project is a perfect example of how distributed generation by means of kinetic technology can complement traditional hydropower to supply single households with baseload energy,” says CEO of Smart Hydro Power, Dr. Karl Kolmsee.

Feldafing, 12.09.2013: The turbine from Smart Hydro Power has passed its first 6 months of a 3-year test installation in the Inn River with flying colors; even surviving the June 2013 flood season without damages. The turbine is positioned slightly downstream of the „Innstraße“bridge between the cities of Rosenheim and Stefanskirchen on the right hand side of the river.

As with most hydropower stations after a strong rain and flooding period, the turbine had to be „cleaned“ or freed of small debris back in June 2013 once the waters had calmed, however the turbine was not damaged, further proving the success of the design. Since June 2013 the turbine is operating continuously producing along its power curve with a maximum of 2 kW at 2, 1 m/s water velocity. The produced power is fed into the grid via a nearby traffic light fixture and compensated by means of the German feed-in tariff policy.

It all began back in Q1 2013. Smart Hydro Power was able to install the turbine in April with a mobile crane within a one day installation after a 2-month permitting process was completed. The main goal of the installation is to test an optimized turbine design in a river with large amounts of debris and water level changes. Since the Inn River meets these criteria, especially in spring, it was chosen as the test site. The main difference of this turbine is a single- float design, versus the original double-float design, which provides for a more hydrodynamic, streamlined functioning in water. The new design functions in that the turbine dives slightly underneath the water surface as the water level rises, thereby enabling the machine to avoid the most dangerous types of debris which swim at or near the surface. Furthermore, the integrated tension wires in front of the rotor form a cone-shaped protection to the device and deliver the customer a “complete” design.

Due to the extremely positive test experience thus far; Smart Hydro Power feels confident to now enter their core market: developing countries. Next installations are planned for the Congo and Colombia; bringing energy to customers who need it most.

Munich June 24th, 2013: Since the fall 2011 the Francis-turbine powered, run-of-river hydropower plant with a nominal capacity of 130 kW is no longer the only energy source in the water.  Smart Hydro Power installed its floating kinetic turbine in September, in the “Auermühl Bach Canal” approx. 100 m in front of the existing hydropower plant. Since then Smart Hydro Power´s team has used the location as a test site for its turbine.

On the 18^th of June 2013, Mr. Kraemer stated, “We can confirm that since the installation of the Smart Turbine our machine has not been negatively affected in any way, nor was there a measurable change in our energy generation from the previous years’.”

Smart Hydro Power´s team would like to thank the Kraemer Family for being a reference and helpful resource since the early beginning.

The experience at Krämer´sche Kunstmühle has shown that different types of energy generation don´t need to interfere, or even compete with one another, but can be combined in a complementary way to enable a more efficient implementation of new and old technologies for future energy generation.

Marco Voigt (Initiator CTMA), Dr. Karl Kolmsee (CEO SHP)

September 7th 2012 Berlin: Munich-based Smart Hydro Power (SHP) won first place in the category “energy” at the Clean Tech Media Award (CTMA) gala. The “energy” category considered technologies of solar, wind, water, and geothermal power, as well as efficiency technologies. The 37-member jury panel, an impressive and eclectic mix of celebrities, corporate executives, and scientists selected SHP as the winner out of 25 applications. The main driver behind the “energy” category is the alignment of technological advancement and environmental preservation. Other factors include, but are not limited to: the degree of innovation, economic efficiency, and long-term applicability.

Dr. Karl Kolmsee, founder and CEO of SHP accepted the award on Friday night in Berlin´s Tempodrom from journalist and TV presenter, Sabine Christiansen and Boris Schucht President of 50Hertz Transmission Ltd. Initiator of CTMA, Marco Voigt fully supports SHP: “it is hard for us here in Germany to imagine that there are still people in the world without access to an established public grid. Smart Hydro Power´s micro hydro turbine is a solution for this problem. The project shows how essential it is to support environmental technologies in all areas…” The non-profit event CTMA is in its 5th year of recognizing and presenting the latest advances in clean tech with the mission of raising public awareness via increased media publicity. By organizing the annual, high profile award gala, CTMA successfully connects entrepreneurs, politicians, scientists, artists, media representatives and consumers – increasing the popularity and visibility of innovations in clean tech.

Feldafing-based Smart Hydro Power won first place at ECOSUMMIT, selected by a prominent 53-member jury panel, including top executives of E-ON, RWE, Veolia, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and many others. The goal behind the Ecosummit Award 2012 (ECO12 Award) is to reward the best smart green startups with publicity and prize money.  The jury acknowledged the company´s contribution towards renewable energy generation, but also its global perspective on empowering marginalized peoples in newly industrialized countries of Latin America and Asia. By offering their innovative product in the remote regions of these fast-growing countries, Smart Hydro Power gives benefiters a chance to participate in their countries growing economies. Thanks to the prize money of 7,500 €, the company will now support their latest electrification project in the Brazilian Amazon.

The company is also making progress in its home base of Germany and neighboring regions of Switzerland. First installations in the rivers Elbe and Rhine are planned for April and May 2012. “We hope to see more permits rolling in after these first installations of ours. We have plenty of inquiries.” stressed Christina Di Sano, sales and marketing representative of Smart Hydro Power.

The 2012 HANNOVER MESSE, known as the world’s most important technology event, will showcase ground breaking innovations in the context of 8 international flagship fairs. 2012 sees the premiere of IndustrialGreenTec, the new trade fair for environmental technology. One might presume that Smart Hydro Power, the maker of kinetic water turbines, would debut in this trade fair. However, visitors can expect to find the bright blue turbine in a seemingly contrasting forum during the conference days.

Smart Hydro Power´s 5kW kinetic water turbine will be the focal point of a special exhibition known as “Technology Cinema 3D,” part of one of Hannover Messe´s most popular forums, “Digital Factory”. For the third time this year, “Digital Factory” highlights the latest in integrated processes and IT Solutions. This year´s agenda centers on industrial software solutions – in particular for engineering production and product development – something where the innovative turbine comes into play.
As innovation is synonymous with Smart Hydro Power´s mission, the display won´t cease to disappoint either. The roughly two meter high turbine will be submerged in a transparent container where water current will be simulated by a pump. As the turbine creates useable AC power from the energy of flowing water, the audience will be able to see power generation up close and personal, while various visualization software companies will use the turbine´s sleek design as the premise for their real-time displays.

Smart Hydro Power is proud to partner with the companies PI-VR, ESI and its subsidiary, ICIDO. PI-VR is a developer and producer of high-end 3D visualization software, used in the realm of engineering, product development, and entertainment and marketing industries. ESI is a world leading software editor for the numerical simulation of prototype and manufacturing process engineering in applied mechanics, while its subsidiary ICIDO specializes in visualization software. 

Look for Smart Hydro Power this year from April 23rd – 26th 2012 in Hannover! 

Turbine in the river Huayabamba

Marisol, Peru – On November 10^th, 2011 two members of the Smart Hydro Power team installed the first 5kW microhydro turbine in the Rio Huayabamba. The generated electricity will provide power to 28 families in the village of Marisol.

Matthew Oakley, technical director of SHP and Martina Reiser, SHP team assistant and interpreter, had a long journey from Germany into the jungles of the Peruvian Amazon.  Once arriving in Lima, the two spent some days travelling to the remote village of Marisol, while the turbine had arrived much earlier by boat. Together with the engineering team of the San Martin Department of Energy and Mining and some residents of the village, the turbine was secured in the Rio Huayabamba within twoday´s time.

It all began just over one year ago in October 2010, when an official letter of intent was signed between Smart Hydro Power GmbH, GIZ GmbH (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), and the Federal District of San Martin, Peru. Today, Marisol has their first turbine. Not only will this project provide a dramatic improvement in the quality of life for the residents, but it will function as a reference for sustainable rural electrification for the entire region. The government of San Martin, Peru will use this project towards meeting the goals in their “Regional Plan of Electrification in Rural Areas with Renewable Energies 2010-2014”, which is to provide renewable power to grid-isolated communities.

The 5kW turbine will initially provide lighting to households and the school. At a later stage, pending success of the project, the community plans to install further turbines. This project is seen as a great milestone for SHP, marking the successful installation of a turbine in the Amazonian region, the place where the initial idea for the product and company first started.

On December 7th Matthew Oakley will return to Marisol for final electrical installations and for the inauguration ceremony scheduled for the 14th of December.  Expected guests include the Director of the Rural Electrification Department in the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mining, Fernando Rossinelli Ugarelli and Rafael Rengifio del Castillo, Director of San Martin´s Ministry of Energy and Mining, along with many other regional representatives of the Peruvian government.

Homes for the World´s mission is to help disadvantaged people in the third world, as well as victims of catastrophe to recover and rebuild their homes in a quick and efficient manner. On site assistance is a fundamental role Homes for the World holds. The organization works closely local companies, state institutions, and training facilities. Partner companies of the organization, either specialize in  emergency project implementation, or provide sustainable, low-cost technical solutions.

Smart Hydro Power was recently approached by Homes for the World to be one of their renewable energy partners. Given that the 5kW turbine system is easy to implement and for a reasonable cost, it is seen as a highly desirable technology. Furthermore, Homes for the World and Smart Hydro Power are happy to work towards a greater good; as natural catastrophes continue to strike with greater frequency, sustainable solutions must be implemented.  To find out more about Homes for the World and to see the post on Smart Hydro Power please click here Homes for the World. 

www.haeuser-fuer-die-welt.de/wirueberuns.html