Hydrokinetic electricity firm Hydro-Green Energy has scooped $2.6m in series-A funding, which it says will enable it to roll out several pilot projects involving water-powered turbines.
The firm, which makes water-powered turbines for use in rivers and oceans, has procured 13 permits for hydro-generator across the US deployments.
The first installations will begin on the Mississippi river and in Minnesota in late August, said spokesman Mark Stover, adding that the company is focusing on river-based turbines for its initial pilots.
The initial projects will be located downstream from an existing 4.4MW dam facility, and will provide roughly five per cent (220Kw) of the electricity generated by the original plant. "If we were to take the same equipment to a location where the riverflow velocity is increased by one or two metres a second, we can quickly get up between 350 and 500Kw per unit," said Stover.
Units will be installed in the pilot power plants early this autumn, and the company also hopes to sell the turbines to other firms looking to create their own power plants.
The company has conducted simulated studies of the triple-bladed turbines' effect on fish stocks, and will be closely monitoring fish activities around the turbines after deployment of the units, said Stover.
The funding round came from the Quercus Trust, which specialises in renewable energy investments.
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