Floating power plant - Start-up wants to revolutionise hydropower

Record ID: 1886341

  • Title: Floating power plant - Start-up wants to revolutionise hydropower
  • Date: 13th December 2024
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF CO-FOUNDERS GEORG WALDER AND RICHARD ECKL AND CMO NATALIE ROJKO DISCUSSING A MODEL ON COMPUTER DISPLAY
  • Embargoed: 27th December 2024 09:13
  • Keywords: Energyfish Energyminer Hydro Hydropower Sustainability
  • Location: MUNICH, GROEBENZELL & FREISING, GERMANY
  • City: MUNICH, GROEBENZELL & FREISING, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Europe,Science
  • Reuters ID: LVA004692513122024RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Bavarian start-up Energyminer has developed an innovative technology that aims to harness hydropower in a new way, without the need for dams or concrete.
    Energyminer's so-called "Energyfish" is a floating hydroelectric power plant weighing around 100 kg that can be installed in a flowing body of water and secured by an anchor.
    Unlike the classic form of hydropower, which utilizes height difference in a river, the Energyfish uses flow velocity to generate electricity, Energyminer co-founder Richard Eckl told Reuters TV.
    "These are the areas that have not been used in hydropower and we are using them in a particularly natural and environmentally friendly way with our technology," Eckl added.
    The concept is to install entire "swarms", consisting of an average of 100 systems. According to the company, a single Energyfish can generate electricity for up to five homes, or up to 500 homes per swarm.
    The advantage of the Energyfish system is that it is decentralised, base load capable, and that the energy is generated "exactly where it is needed and around the clock," co-founder Georg Walder explained, adding that the company believes this is the future of energy production.
    "There will no longer be the large individual power plants that supply everything on their own, but there will be many, many decentralised solutions that can be used for the respective resources that are available without having to interfere with nature and the environment," the co-founder argued.
    The installation of a "swarm" takes only a few weeks. A medium-sized river with a depth of at least one meter is required. The company expects the first swarms to be operational next year.
    The aim of the Energyfish is to interfere with nature as little as possible, but according to aquatic systems biologist Juergen Geist, any technology that uses turbines can have an impact on marine life, and that's why a study of the Energyfish's effect on real fish is needed.
    "How can fish even recognise these turbines? Can they avoid them, or do they get into the turbine corridor?", the biologist said.
    Geist plans to use sonar to study how fish behave around the Energyfish, even in turbid water.
    (Production: Louisa Off, Anja Guder, Ayhan Uyanik, Johannes Toft Thyssen)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains computer game or software screenshots. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing this clip.
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