RheEnergise, the UK clean-technology company that is developing HD Hydro, a new and advanced form of pumped hydro-energy storage to provide long-duration energy storage, has placed its first turbine order with the Turkish engineering company, Hydropower Engineering (HPE). 

HPE will manufacture the 500kW HD Turbine for RheEnergise’s demonstrator project to be built at a site near Plymouth, Devon. The turbine will be delivered in the first quarter of 2024.

RheEnergise’s demonstrator project has received financial support from the UK Government through the Longer Duration Energy Storage (LoDES) Demonstration Programme (Stream 2). As part of the UK Government’s £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), LoDES aims to accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies and systems.

RheEnergise’s HD Hydro storage system is scalable, low-cost, and quick to deploy. Rather than using water as the working fluid, it uses a non-toxic fluid which is 2½ times denser than water, and which can provide 2½ times the power when compared to a conventional low-density hydro-power system. It means that HD Hydro can be deployed on hills rather than mountains, opening up massive opportunities in the UK and around the world. 

Today’s announcement with HPE follows RheEnergise’s recent agreement (16th August) with the British energy company Mercia Power Response to examine the feasibility of getting 100MW of HD Hydro into commercial operation by 2030 by utilising Mercia’s existing grid connections in the UK. 

Stephen Crosher, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of RheEnergise said: “We are delighted to be working with HPE which has a first-class reputation for high precision manufacturing in the hydro sector. The placing of our order with HPE is an important milestone in our efforts to deliver our demonstrator project. The expansion of the long duration energy sector, and using new technologies like our HD Hydro storage system, is vital as the UK and other countries are placing a greater reliance on wind and solar to meet their future energy needs and to achieve Net Zero.”

Caglar Cinar of Hydropower Engineering (HPE) said: “We are excited to be given the opportunity to work with RheEnergise in a new and innovative part of the international hydro sector. Given that their HD Hydro system can be deployed in many more locations than conventional forms of hydro, and quickly too, we see our turbine order from RheEnergise as a first of many. RheEnergsie’s HD Hydro offers a major business growth opportunity for HPE.”