Gorlov Helical Turbine - Environmental Issues

Environmental Issues

A GHT is proposed for low-head micro hydro installations, when construction of a dam is undesirable. The GHT is an example of damless hydro technology. The technology may potentially offer cost and environmental benefits over dam-based micro-hydro systems.

Some advantages of damless hydro are that it eliminates the potential for failure of a dam, which improves public safety. It also eliminates the initial cost of dam engineering, construction and maintenance, reduces the environmental and ecological complications, and potentially simplifies the regulatory issues put into law specifically to mitigate the problems with dams.

In general, a major ecological issue with hydropower installations is their actual and perceived risk to aquatic life. It is claimed that a GHT spins slowly enough that fish can see it soon enough to swim around it. From preliminary tests in 2001, it was claimed that if a fish swims between the slowly moving turbine blades, the fish will not be harmed. Also it would be difficult for a fish to become lodged or stuck in the turbine, because the open spaces between the blades are larger than even the largest fish living in a small river. A fish also would not be tumbled around in a vortex, because the GHT does not create a lot of turbulence, so small objects would be harmlessly swept through with the current.