The central component of the Free Flow System is an axial-flow turbine equipped with three blades designed for high efficiency over a large range of speeds.

Installed underwater, the turbines rotate slowly and steadily (~35 rpm) by the natural currents of tides and rivers. This motion drives a speed increaser, which in turn drives a grid-connected generator, both of which are encased in a waterproof streamlined nacelle mounted on a streamlined pylon.

Research & Development
Verdant Power was awarded major funding from the US Department of Energy under its Advanced Water Power Program. This funding has supported a project to design, manufacture and test an extended turbine rotor that will expand the application potential of the Free Flow System into even deeper water resources.

In September of 2012, Verdant Power successfully completed an in-water test of this updated rotor at the RITE Project site in the East Channel of the East River.

Verdant Power has partnered with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory on this effort, which further advances previous collaborative work between Verdant Power, NREL and SNL on the turbine rotor.

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