DLZ Corp, which is developing several hydropower projects in India, will put forward an initial investment of $250,000 to Hydrovolts to fund the manufacture of a prototype turbine for use on the canal project. DLZ has obtained permits and a power purchase agreement to develop a 10MW hydrokinetic power project on the Canal, which currently feeds water to a traditional hydropower plant on the Ganges River.
Under a non-binding letter of intent between the two companies, following successful demonstration and delivery of the prototype Hydrovolts turbine, DLZ could potentially order an additional 400 turbines and place them in the canal leading up to the traditional hydropower plant. Hydrovolts estimates that 400 turbines will sell for about $20M.
The Hydrovolts Flipwing floating turbine will operate like a submerged paddlewheel and is designed to be simple to deploy and connect: it drops in the water and is either tethered or anchored. Electricity generated by the turbine is sent to shore by a power cable linked to the tether. No dams or significant site preparation are needed, reducing costs and minimizing environmental impacts. The turbine is considered fish-friendly because its paddlewheel blades turn slower than the water current – fish just swim around or through it.
The Flipwing turbine can also be used in spillways and other water channels such as wastewater treatment plants, tailraces of existing dams, and discharges of cooling water from thermal power plants, says Hydrovolts.
