Advanced Composite design for Commercial ORPC RivGen¨ Device

Funded by:

SEAI Prototype Development Fund

Partners:

NUIG, ORPC

Description:

Wind turbine blade

The RivGen® Power system is a €104k project supported through funding from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. 

The Igiugig RivGen Project is also supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Water Power Technologies Office. 

OBJECTIVES:

Generate emission-free electricity from river currents and connects directly into existing remote community grids using smart grid technology.

The RivGen Power System is a big step forward for the future sustainability of nearly 2 billion mostly indigenous people worldwide who live in remote, off-grid communities, 700 million of whom currently rely on very expensive, environmentally-risky diesel fuel to power their homes. 

This first commercial system will be installed in the Kvichak River at Igiugig, Alaska, summer 2019, and provide electricity to the remote community, offsetting the village’s diesel fuel use by up to one-half and moving it closer to using diesel fuel for emergency backup only.

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