Episode 124 | Hidden Hydropower | NuSTREEM
One of the biggest misconceptions I hear about hydroelectric is that more dams are needed to build more hydro. Studies show that there are over 50,000 suitable non-powered dams in the U.S. alone. According to my guest, their family of hydropower may not need dams at all.
NuSTREEM, a Hartford, Connecticut-based hydropower developer, specializes in “small hydro”—anything under 20-30 megawatts. NuSTREEM’s NuTURBINE is 75-250 kW.
“Hydroelectric does not equal the Hoover Dam anymore,” says my guest, NuSTREEM General Manager Juliann Blanford. She compares her company’s approach to hydroelectric the same way the aerospace sector approaches rocket fuel—don’t waste a drop.
To achieve this, their turbines, paired with a proprietary controller, “dial in” water flow to the optimum position. Their Kaplan turbine design is essentially a pipe with two fans. The fan in front directs the water onto fan in the back.
This is especially important given the new role hydroelectric finds itself in, following other intermittent renewable energy (i.e. wind/solar). A technology like this can optimize quickly in situations where the energy source has to ramp up with little notice.
Juliann is also Chair of the Small Hydro Council at the National Hydropower association. We discussed one of my biggest gripes—why isn’t hydroelectric (and geothermal and renewable natural gas) given as much respect as wind and solar?
“Large hydro is not given any favors when it comes to policy,” says Juliann, pointing out that dams are essentially a bad word these days. She empathizes that small hydro can be very different from large hydro, in terms of both ownership (i.e. utilities vs. farms) and infrastructure.
Her company’s biggest targets for growth are irrigation districts and municipal water systems, which we discussed in Episode 46.
“There’s thousands and thousands of sites that will fit a small hydro-type application like what we’ve got,” says Juliann, ”and it’s really about turning the attention of investors and landowners to this green technology.”
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