HydroQuest launches river hydrokinetic turbines

Following the testing in real state conditions HydroQuest has launched a range of HydroQuest River hydrokinetic turbine models.

The results of the trials in French Guyana, and in Orléans, France, where HydroQuest deployed hydrokinetic turbines, prompted the company to launch two models of river turbines: HydroQuest River 1.40 and HydroQuest River 2.80.

The turbines are 40 kW and 80 kW in capacity, respectively.

HydroQuest’s turbines use crossflow double vertical axis technology, and their implementation and maintenance is facilitated through the fixing to a floating barge anchored by underwater cables and liftable turbine columns.

Jean-François Simon, CEO of HydroQuest, said: “A very large number of rivers and estuaries in the world can be equipped with hydrokinetic turbines that are complementary to other energy sources. This is particularly the case in France.

“Thus, we wish to see the setting up of a Call for Expression of Interest on hydrokinetic river farms by ADEME, as promised by Ségolène Royal, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, a few months ago. This initiative would boost the French industrial sector around these technologies with high energy and environmental potential.”

HydroQuest intends to expand its presence France and worldwide, especially on the African continent, in Latin America, Asia, Italy, Brazil or in Russia.

Simon added: “After these successful implementations of river hydrokinetic turbines in Orléans and in French Guyana, we are today launching our range. This is part of our strategy to help meeting the growing energy needs, both in the industrialized and emerging countries, by deploying our machines at sites in France, but also in Italy, Brazil, Russia, Latin America, Asia or on the African continent.”

The HydroQuest River 1.40 turbine that has been deployed in Loire river, Orléans, is expected to be connected to the French electricity grid in the coming weeks, HydroQuest’s press release reads.

HydroQuest is a French-based company established in 2010 that has developed a range of turbines able to generate electricity from river currents, estuaries and oceans.

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Image: HydroQuest