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Volturnus Selected by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Microgrid Deployment

Updated: Apr 8, 2020


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Verterra Energy, developer of the scalable, modular water power technology "Volturnus", announced today that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has selected its pioneering water power technology for deployment and testing on U.S. military bases. USACE Hydropower is the 5th largest electric supplier in the U.S. and the single largest renewable energy producer.

Volturnus Deployed in MN

“Volturnus has the potential to fundamentally change how we harness the power of flowing water on our planet.”

In 2018 the US Army Corps of Engineers, ERDC-CERL, began a research and demonstration project with small hydro generation units. The objective was to identify technology and evaluate whether hydro was a viable energy source to enhance resilience and preparedness of soldiers and fixed installations. Their findings suggest that emerging turbine designs could lead to hydro systems that are useful at multiple scales producing anywhere from around 20W at the soldier scale to 500kW at the installation level, all from a portable and scalable design.


“Volturnus has the potential to fundamentally change how we harness the power of flowing water on our planet” Aaron Petri, PhD Energy and Environmental Planner, US Army Corps of Engineers, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory."It is a truly innovative, modular, hydro turbine design that expands how small-scale hydro power can be characterized and evaluated."

The purpose of the multi year collaborative program is to investigate and evaluate Verterra’s advanced hydro turbine technology over an extended period of time. The Volturnus technology, at multiple different scales, can provide a source of power that could enhance the resilience and fuel endurance of soldiers all the way up to advanced microgrid installations and distributed power utilities in the US and internationally.


"This isn’t just a modest improvement on existing technology but an entirely new concept."


“Volturnus represents a necessary departure from conventional wind-turbine style designs and other hydrokinetic turbine designs that are prone to fouling, and small dams that have limited viability along with significant physical site impacts. This isn’t a modest improvement of existing technology but an entirely new approach.” Eric Newberg, Director of Engineering at Verterra Energy continued, "Its novel, revolutionary design harnesses both the kinetic energy and head pressure of the water to produce clean electrical power across a wide range of flow rate scenarios. We are proud to be collaborating with the US Army Corps on their advanced microgrid project. ”


 

info@verterraenergy.com 612-349-9865 333 Washington Ave. N

 

#Volturnus #Aaron-Petri #Eric-Newberg #DOD #USArmyCorpsofEngineers #ERDC #CERL #Microgrid #100renewable

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