OTTAWA — The Waterotor, created in Canada by renowned technologist Fred Ferguson, is a rotating turbine device that sits in slow-moving water and collects power to generate electricity. It can operate in water speeds as low as two miles an hour. However, according to Scott Neil at the Royal Gazette, the “sweet spot” is in a current of around four miles per hour.

Waterotor Energy Solutions, the Canadian company responsible for the product, understands that accessible and affordable electricity is not always possible. This global issue affects 1.3 billion people today. Even those with electricity may have to depend on expensive, polluting fossil fuel generators for their power. Over 71 percent of earth’s surface is covered in slow-moving water, making many locations viable for using the Waterotor. Neil writes that “the Waterotor uses a rolling drum-like system to generate power by capturing the push of water. Mechanical energy from the rotating drum is converted into electrical energy through onboard generators.” The

Neil writes that “the Waterotor uses a rolling drum-like system to generate power by capturing the push of water. Mechanical energy from the rotating drum is converted into electrical energy through onboard generators.” The Waterotor can be placed virtually anywhere that has a current at, or faster than two miles per hour. It can be submerged within ocean currents, rivers and canals.The

The Waterotor achieves maximum torque resulting in a high coefficient of power. This design works better than propeller or wing-like blades, which require higher water speeds in order to match the same coefficient of power that the Waterotor achieves at two miles per hour.

In May 2016, Waterotor Energy Solutions revealed plans to manufacture Waterotors in Indonesia. If this plan comes to fruition, it will supply electricity to fishing villages on the more than 17,000 Indonesian islands. Another interested nation is the Philippines. A government group in the Philippines led by Manny Pacquiao, a Philippine congressman and winner of multiple world boxing titles, is venturing to build up to 2,000 Waterotors to bring the technology to the Philippines. Waterotor Energy Solutions also has agreements with the Federated States of Micronesia and a number of other Pacific Ocean jurisdictions.

The advantages of the Waterotor include that it operates in slow-moving water, and the abundance of slow-moving water make locations for the product seemingly endless. It is a mobile device, it does not require bottom fixtures or foundations, only simple anchoring. It can be designed as buoyant secured by anchors or designed to be heavier than water to be lowered from a bridge, barge, boat or buoy. t has structural integrity and a very high coefficient of power in output versus size. The Waterotor is environmentally friendly because it has no high-spinning blades and will not disrupt the fish. Finally, it is cost effective; it is simple to build and is a fully scalar device.

The Waterotor has the potential to bring electricity to 1.3 billion people worldwide that currently live without it. The invention provides a green solution by using the renewable resource flowing water.

– Karyn Adams

Photo: Flickr