Energy from water in motion: efficient, customisable off-grid hydro-electricity for rural areas with stream access

Project Information

HYDROGO

Grant agreement ID: 832269

DOI

10.3030/832269

Project closed

EC signature date 4 December 2018

Start date 1 November 2018

End date 28 February 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

DEEP RIVER AS
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HYDROGO (Energy from water in motion: efficient, customisable off-grid hydro-electricity for rural areas with stream access)

Reporting period: 2018-11-01 to 2019-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

An estimated 1.2 billion people in the world live without electricity. The absence or unreliability of power supply is particularly prominent in rural areas of developing countries, where the percentage of people without electricity can reach 99.64%. According to the United Nations, the goal to end energy poverty and meet decarbonization targets can only be achieved by accelerating the penetration of off-grid renewable energy. Our project would bring to the market 2 off-grid small hydropower (SHP) plants that allow users to produce power efficiently (>80%) from water heads as low as 2m and install them outside of the water current in less than a week. These plants would also act as a Power Hub, a never-before-seen concept in this market, by redistributing energy from other renewable sources to other service systems plugged into them (e.g. waste water treatment plants, communication towers).

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

We quantified the target market for SHP plants in 12 European countries and 6 developing countries. We reviewed competing solutions and determined the main differentiating factors of our plants: the Power Hub and the lower cost per kWh. We redesigned our turbines and made a careful selection of trusted parts suppliers which lowered the costs of the plants in 37-44%. We also defined the main objectives for a phase 2 project: to reduce the weight (70%) and cost (20%) of the plants while maintaining their efficacity (>80%) and adding all the Power Hub features. This will be done by modifying further the design of the turbine and manufacturing the turbine housing with a polyethylene composite material instead of steel. Finally, we developed a business model tailored to our situation, a commercialization plan and a strategy to protect our IPR during Phase 2 and beyond

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

After Phase 2, our plants will allow users to produce power at a cost of 0.011-0.024 €/kWh. The sale of these plants will allow us to expand and solidify our business internationally, earning 8.2M€ during the first 4 years and achieving a ROI of 2.3. Besides, HYDROGO will allow more than 300 off-grid communities to become self-sustainable with renewable energy and more than 400 emergency services and aid organizations to easily set up basic services for affected populations.

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