Did you know that electricity can be generated using drinking water pipes and a micro-turbine? This technology, the only one of its kind in France, will be installed at the Ternay plant in Annonay-Rhône.
Four companies will be pooling their skills and know-how to produce electricity from the town of Annonay’s drinking water pipes and an axial micro-turbine.
PERGA micro-turbine
The Société d’Aménagement Urbain et Rural(SAUR), which operates the drinking water network for the town of Annonay, PERGA, a Spanish company that manufactures the micro-turbine, Saint-Gobain PAM, which markets it, and Hydrowatt from the UNITe group, which modelled the ideal location for its installation.
This technology, which is the first of its kind in France, creates electricity from the hydraulic force of the pipes, to supply the drinking water production plant located at the Ternay dam in the commune of Saint-Marcel-les-Annonay and at Savas for half of the lake.
“The device is installed at the pressure reducers on the network to produce electricity from the kinetic energy of the water (…) With a power of 26 kW, the machine should produce 132,000 kWh annually, or 30% of the production station’s electricity needs“. BTP Magazine
This renewable energy production system will be implemented during 2017 for an experimental phase. The energy produced will be fed into the electricity grid and sold back to EDF in accordance with current legislation.
How does a micro-turbine work?
According to Marc Barbion, project manager at Saint-Gobain PAM, quoted by Environnement Magazine, the principle is fairly simple and requires no civil engineering for installation.
Pressure reducers dissipate energy from networks to avoid the risks of excessive pressure at the end user. But this energy is lost. With the micro-turbine, we want to recover this excess energy and turn it into electricity.
Video explanation: Perga micro-turns
Micro-turbines, how do they work?
Contents of the technical file produced by PERGA:
The principle
Micro-turbines (operation, range, standards)
The optimum solution
Where should they be installed?
Micro-turbine components
Financial analysis and response to tenders
Drinking water: Saint-Gobain PAM installs a microturbine in Annonay, Environnement-Magazine
In the Ardèche, a unique hydroelectric facility comes into being, BTP Magazine
