Good morning, friend! There is plenty of great news to reflect upon this spring: awards, fish passage studies, a peer-reviewed paper, and so many good events.
There is plenty of great news to reflect upon this spring! Over the past few months, we've been busy conducting fish passage studies at our scale-model test facility in Alameda. We're working with two unique types of migratory fish—eels and sturgeon—and testing passage through turbines spinning at high speeds. But the test turbine isn't the only thing that's been moving quickly! Some of our highlights from the last few months:
🏆 Natel won Hydropower Solution of the Year from the Cleantech Breakthrough Awards and multiple photography awards from the US Department of Energy. Additionally, we were selected as finalists in the Reuters Global Energy Transition Awards and Canada's Global Energy Show Awards.
🎟️ We attended and spoke at several dynamic events this winter, and we're looking forward to forging more connections at upcoming conferences in the US, Canada and the UK.
🌱 Our entire team gathered in Alameda for a collaborative event, which included meeting the resident fish, sharing tech talks, and volunteering in the Oakland hills, where we worked to restore the resilience of the local watershed. Check out our open positions to join our team.
FishSafe turbines are well-suited to directly replace existing Francis, Kaplan, and propeller-style turbines! Learn more at our webinar on plant upgrades with FishSafe turbines next Wednesday, April 17, at 8 am PDT.
A cost analysis by Sr Hydropower Technical Associate Tatiana Marzan and researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory found that installing a turbine with Natel’s Restoration Hydro Turbine design was more efficient, in terms of project economy and long-term management, than installing tighter screen spacing.
Published in the Journal of Environmental Management, "Estimated Capital Costs of Fish Exclusion Technologies for Hydropower Facilities" found that fish exclusion is often more expensive than fish inclusion because:
💸 Initial capital costs can rack up, depending on the size of the penstock;
🐟 Tighter spacing doesn't help downstream migration, so often projects must pay for additional measures like bypasses or nightly shutdowns;
✨ Projects that collect substantial debris have high management costs to clean the trash racks, most often with automated raking systems;
🚧 Automated raking systems can damage the screens.
Natel won big in the DOE's Make a Splash photo contest. Together, VP of External Affairs Kate Stirr, Sr Marketing Manager Betsy Pfeiffer and former employee Andy Baumgartner won 5 prizes for their photos and video of Natel's FishSafe technology.
Policy Manager Miles Hall shared tips for finding and winning federal funding in this article in the NHA Powerhouse.
Events Round-Up
We enjoyed making so many in-person connections this winter in the US and Europe and are looking forward to these upcoming events:
April 18, Uncommon Dialogue Plenary—VP of External Affairs Kate Stirr and Policy Manager Miles Hall will be in Washington, DC.
April 30-May 1, NHA Midwest Regional Mtg—look for CEO Gia Schneider in Des Moines, IA.
May 5-9, Fish Passage 2024—CTO Abe Schneider, Staff Mechanical Engineer Sterling Watson and Research Engineer Simone Lassar will be in Quebec City, QC.
May 8-10, Power of Water Canada—look for CEO Gia Schneider, CTO Abe Schneider and Staff Mechanical Engineer Sterling Watson in Niagara, ON.
June 5, BHA Hydro Network—Sr Sales Manager Harry Driscoll will be attending and presenting at Masson Mills, Derbyshire, UK.
Reply to this email or find us on LinkedIn if you'd like to connect!
This quarter we welcomed three new additions to the Natel team: Mechanical Technician Taha Hachim, Mechanical Engineering Intern Saksham Garg, and Associate Mechanical Engineer Brit Wylie.
We're still on the lookout for exceptional talent to join our engineering team. Help accelerate the clean energy transition with sustainable hydropower.
