Prior attempts at extracting power from pre-existing water impoundments such as dams and lock systems involved building temporary cofferdams, dewatering the volume inside the cofferdam, and excavating a pit “in the dry” for the civil infrastructure to support the powerhouse and its equipment from static and dynamic loads. Systems having low net head available present marginal opportunity for “conventional” hydropower due to the very high cost of the temporary cofferdam and other civil infrastructure. There exist many lock and dam environments having active navigational locks and unused auxiliary locks. While possible, although very unlikely, the need to use auxiliary locks for future navigation would require a removable hydropower system design which is not available with conventional hydropower systems. Further, the economics of long lead times for project development, engineering design, licensure, equipment fabrication, civil construction and commissioning (up to 8 years) can makepermanent conventional/traditional hydropower systems economically and in some cases physically and operationally impractical.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds