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Description
Hydropower plants are Poland''s third source of renewable energy after wind power and photovoltaics. Of the 400 available sites with the potential to build small hydropower plants, most should use Archimedes turbines due to geographic and environmental conditions. A problem in using Archimedes turbines at sustained sub-zero air temperatures is icing which impedes turbine operation. Therefore, we are planning to introduce to the market an improved turbine with an original de-icing system. This system will enable continuous and efficient power plant operation, regardless of air temperature. The project also aims to construct a small hydropower plant on the mountainous Kwisa river in South-Western Poland, where the improved turbine model will be used for the first time. The new solution will increase the operating efficiency of a single Archimedes turbine by 10%, i.e. by 40 MWh per year for a power plant such as the one planned under the project.
The project includes the construction of a small hydroelectric power plant with a capacity of 90 kW, the development of technical, assembly and operation documentation for the turbine, and the purchase of consulting services from the Norwegian partner. SediCon AS will provide advice on the feasibility of applying their own system for removing sediment from the inflow to the Archimedes turbine. It is because sediment-related pollution, along with ice phenomena, is one of the factors that reduce energy efficiency of hydropower plants.
Renewable energy production at the new power plant will lead to a reduction of CO2 emissions by 325.60 tons already in the year of project completion. The project will also have a positive impact on its social environment by enabling canoe tourism on a section of the Kwisa River (we will build a canoe portage), and by restoring the morphological patency of the river through the construction of a fish ladder.