Author: linda

Munich, December 2013 – three SMART turbines are sold to Nigeria. This marks the first ever sale to the African continent for Smart Hydro Power. The installation is planned for two of the three units before the end of 2013 behind the Oyan Dam near Lagos, Nigeria. This will be used as a test site for the partners and as a demonstration site for high-level members of the Nigerian government. The first installation will be used in an off-grid modus, although the turbine can be used in both ways.

Nigeria is a wealthy country, rich in natural resources and freshwater, which still has a large population not connected to the public grid. Those citizens with access to the public grid also suffer from frequent blackouts causing interruptions to daily business and private life. This reality presents the partners with an interesting business opportunity to sell kinetic turbines.

https://www.smart-hydro.de/uploads/media/Press_Release_Peruvian_Installation_-_Diario_Hoy.pdf

Santiago de Cali, December 2013 – the first SMART kinetic turbine is installed in Colombia. The installation took place in the outflow of a hydroelectric dam in Salvajinas, Valley of Cauca. It is one of three international tests sites for Smart Hydro Power. In Salvajinas, the development of a new electrical module which combines the turbine with other forms of energy production is being tested.  These sources include a 1 kW solar panel, the public grid and a diesel generator. Along with the integration of different energy sources, a new demand control system is also being implemented. These tests will ultimately expand the usage and user cases of the turbine. Because the turbine delivers base-load power, it is able to serve many purposes such as telecommunication towers, health stations, pumps for irrigation, or mechanical workshops and villages.

The site also has optimal conditions for testing due to the alternative flows behind the hydropower plant. These range between 1 – 2.5 m/s depending on the time of day, which enables the testing of the turbine at almost all power outputs. Smart Hydro Power and their partners plan to demonstrate the test site to Colombian customers soon.

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.