ImpactAlpha, April 8 – Hydropower accounts for about half of the world’s installed renewable energy capacity. But dams and other hydro infrastructure can be capital intensive and destructive to natural resources.
Female-founded and Alameda, Calif.-based Natel Energy says its low-cost, regenerative hydro technology delivers “habitat creation, improved water quality and sustained increases in groundwater and aquifer recharge rates.”
Natel has installed a small system in Maine, thanks in part of early proof-of-concept funding from the U.S Department of Energy.
An $11 million investment from Schneider, the French electrical equipment giant, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the climate investment fund launched by Bill Gates, will support Natel’s project development pipeline.
