Water Current to Electrical Current

hydrokinetic-power-barge So what would this little boat be? A kiddie’s play boat? A platform for lake diving? Nope. It’s a design for a hydrokinetic barge — a floating platform tethered in appropriate river, or tidal currents, with a turbine suspended below it spinning as the water flows by, generating electricity. The beauty of the idea is that the turbines can be site specific, for low flow or high flow rivers. Since the blades spin at about the speed of the water the incidence of fish mortality found in turbines at the base of dams is not an issue. Not only that, since they are site specific and floatable they can be put in place seasonally, or in rural areas not well served by regular power infrastructure.

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