A renewable energy idea that could hold water

Around the corner from power stations pumping out carbon emissions in the Latrobe Valley, farmer and inventor Fred Sundermann has come up with an idea that he claims will revolutionise renewable energy generation.

Mr Sundermann, an inventor for decades, is looking at a prototype of his latest invention, the S-Turbine. Unlike similar water turbines around the world, he says, the S-Turbine makes it impossible for water to escape without being turned into energy.
Early small prototypes of the S-Turbine have produced 1 kilowatt hour of energy and, according to Mr Sundermann’s team, this would increase exponentially in larger models and stronger tides as the energy output of the turbine doubles for every three knots of water passing through. The turbine sits on the sea or river bed.

Mr Sundermann envisages areas with strong river systems and tidal activity, such as parts of South America, South-East Asia, the Pacific and remote Aboriginal communities, using the small turbines as a cheap and easily assembled form of power generation and a clean alternative to diesel generators.

“It just generates day after day after day,” Mr Sundermann said. “The little ones should be made for the Third World countries. The Mekong Delta and Peru, and all those little islands, could use it instead of diesel.”

With Weir Services, a company that makes turbines for oil rigs and wind energy, big plans have also been drawn up for a major project in Port Phillip.

It calls for 36 of the turbines to be installed 25 metres under water, which could produce 1260 megawatts of power per hour — the equivalent of a medium-sized coal-fired power station.

The success of the project could lead to turbines being installed at Western Port and Tasmania, with Weir Services general manager Vic Nikolsky saying they could produce 10 per cent of Victoria’s power.

But if it sounds too good to be true it usually is, and Mr Sundermann is worried. Weir has not been willing to build a large prototype without government or private investment, with the cost estimated at $300,000.

A recent trial in the Murray River also went poorly due to low river flow, and there are also concerns over the turbines’ impact on marine life.

The Age