Power-Dense Lightweight Hydro Turbine/Generators for 20,000+ Low-Head US Dams and Reclamation Conduits that Install In-Line,are Low Cost and Mass Producible

There is a manifest need in the US and the world for renewable, lowcost energy. However, conventional and small hydropower systems for (20,000+) low head dams (550ft.) in the US tend to be extremely costintensive due to a variety of configurational issues. These include coffer dams, power houses, complex foundations, complex unit maintenance, large space requirements, and turbine technology requiring major civil engineering work. These factors have severely limited the number of economicallyviable projects in the low head power range. DOE has identified these dam locations and has challenged industry to produce a unit generating clean power at low cost to the public. The ATS turbine/generator answers this challenge as it provides the hydropower industry with a magnitude lower cost power generation system, requiring no power house, with onefifth weight and volume of a conventional system, simple maintenance and not requiring dam reconstruction. The ATS 63 Turbine/Generator is built primarily of composite materials, massproducible and ranges from 100kW to 2.5MW depending on head and flow. The low cost avoids the need for subsidy (unlike wind and solar). It will alter the hydropower outlook for the future in the US. The DOE SBIR Phase I project produced the critically peerreviewed unit design (based on an earlier test of a scale model validating the concept). Material strengthand costanalysis validated the design, and in a Phase II project, ATS will build the first unit and test it on a dam or canal. Mass production manufacture can be started on completion of the Phase II test, eventually employing an estimated 300 people in less than five years. In Phase III, ATS will install multiple units on a large US river dam, confirming a lowcost solution for power generation to all large dams including the Army Corps of Engineers lowhead dams in the US major rivers and lakes. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: A world market of at least $83 billion, excluding China (having 49% of all hydropower) is estimated based on a preliminary market study by an independent leading consulting group. The commercialization plan provides for a pathway to economic success, made in the USA.