River and Tidal currents
We have designed turbines for both river and tidal currents.
Building on the ocean current turbine, we have designed a low-profile turbine for use in rivers and a smaller turbine for the tidal currents. The river turbines can be installed on the riverbed and with the option of raising it to the surface for service. The tidal turbine platforms can be constructed smaller than the ocean current platforms due to the high velocity on the tidal currents.
Tidal currents
The Turbine in tidal currents has the potential to be much smaller in size when deployed in tidal currents with high velocity (e.g. 3,5 m/sec.). The physics behind is simple; when the velocity of the currents are doubled, the power output potential is 8 times higher. Due to the daily variations in the tidal currents the “full load hours” will however be significantly lower than when deployed in ocean currents. The combination of very high output during the more limited “full load hours” ensures that the tubine is very good solution for tidal currents.
Rivers are often close to population centres
In rivers the turbine concept can be deployed at the riverbed, or floating between the riverbed and the surface of the river. The power harnessed can be transferred to land with use of hydraulic systems. Generators can be constructed in concealed areas along the river bank in order to limit visibility.
The concept is ideal both for remote and populated areas. In most river systems there is no opportunity to create dams for generation of hydroelectric power. The river turbine at the riverbed allows the river to flow freely on top and multiple turbine units can be deployed with an optimal separation distance between them to harness large amounts of energy which would otherwise be bypassed.
There are many large and deep rivers in the world. An example is the Yangtze River in China which is 6300 km (3975 miles) long, and up to 200 meters (656 feet) deep.
Other long and deep rivers with a large potential are the Congo River, Danube, Zambezi, Amazon, Mekong, Yellow, St. Lawrence, Hudson, Mississippi, and so on.
The Turbine is a perfect solution in river currents with medium to high velocity.
