Tried and true technology meets leading-edge design! German engineering company Energyminer has created a micro-electric hydropower generator which “lives” in rivers.
Hydropower is not new to the realm of technology. Water mills and water wheels have been used to generate power for centuries. The ancient Greeks and Romans created the first water mills around 280 BCE. Greek engineer Philo of Byzantium is the individual who is usually credited with its design.
The design team created the Energyfish, a hydroelectric generator which functions in groups or “schools” to monitor the ecosystem, plant and animal life, motion of the body of water, and self-maintenance on the Energyfish itself. Each machine is approximately 3 x 2.4 x 1.4 m (9.8 x 7.9 x 4.6 ft), weighs around 100 kg (220 lbs), and generates power by following the natural kinetic flow of the body of water where it is housed. The devices have a 10-20 year lifetime, and only require the water to flow at 1 m/s (2.2 mph) and be at a minimum depth of 1 m (2.2 ft). The average power output of one unit is 1.8 kW, and each unit can generate about 15 MWh of electricity per year. (With 15MWh of electricity, about 25 homes can be powered for one year!) Though hydropower is one of the most used renewable energy sources, Energyminer took note of some of the drawbacks of large-scale hydropower and hydroelectric generation, such as negative effects on the natural ecosystem, displacement of residents due to construction, and loss of property, and sought to minimize or eliminate all of these issues.
The devices monitor their own “health” by tracking power output and rotor speed, and perform self-cleaning by running the rotors in reverse. The Energyfish also tracks water temperature, water current velocity, and anchor location and force. To help protect the ecosystem, the Energyfish slows its rotor rotation when animal life is detected nearby. Each device can also fully submerge itself in a minor flooding event to allow large debris to pass over it, and can de-anchor itself and float ashore in major flooding events and re-anchor to its home spot when the flooding passes. These generators can be installed partially or fully submerged, eliminating the need for dams and reducing the visual impact of manmade devices in natural settings. Each device takes just a few weeks to set up, which means they can be rapidly deployed to minimize resident displacement. The Energyfish have their own IoT system, to allow monitoring, analysis, and maintenance to be in real time and through one system.
At present, the pilot units are deployed in Munich, with the design team testing and monitoring their functions.
Article about Energyfish (written by Natalie Rojko, Chief Marketing Officer of Energyminer)
Energyminer Website (English | Deutsch)