Disruptive small-scale hydropower technology is set to make first steps in India

Despite the high output of small-scale hydropower projects (from 500w Pico up to 100kW Micro), they often fail to materialise because of site constraints such as water flow and height differential that render projects unfeasible. Many opportunities have been missed because conventional hydro does not operate efficiently with a fall of less than 3m.

This is all now a thing of the past with the advent of a technology that takes advantage of the rotational power of earth: The Kouris Centri Turbine, (or KCT for short) can operate with a minimum fall height of just 0.6m while being very efficient under low loads.

KCT takes advantage of Earth’s rotational force (Coriolis force), just like a kitchen sink, to achieve more efficient output and more importantly the ability to produce power from sites that traditional technologies could not take advantage of. With this disruptive ability, a number of additional advantages are also very appealing: “KCT is extremely efficient, durable, and portable. The design offers such versatility that it’s hard to believe that many features were the result of serendipity.” explains KapaLamda MD, Spyros Lyssoudis.

Having completed two sites in Australia and the first commercial installation in Greece, India is the first stop of the Australian-Greek led KCT initiative. Lyssoudis adds: “We believe we can really help with the India’s goal to lower production cost, to increase reliability and maximize local capacity opportunities and that is why we are currently growing our partnership network in India”.

Paul Kouris, the inventor of the technology explains: “We find that the technology is so different that experienced engineers are astounded by the physics behind it. We had to develop www.KCThydropower.com, an online guide that explains things in more detail so that most questions can be addressed early on.”