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With the aim of reducing the impact on the environment through sustainable practices, the Achelous Energy platform has focused on generating clean energy. This is being done through the strength of currents and the contribution of solar panels to achieve the result.
Achelous Energy, an English company, has an ambitious goal: to generate sustainable energy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To conquer the brand, the team developed a model based on a suspended platform that uses the force of currents and photovoltaic solar panels to generate energy for the population. With everything ready, expectations are high as to whether, in addition to being clean, the project is also functional in practice.
The entire project was designed to be sustainable, practical and non-invasive from an environmental point of view.
The platform used by Achelous Energy was baptized as FITS: Floating Instream Tidal and Solar, still without a direct translation into Portuguese, but which refers to the forces that are received and converted into energy by the platform. Tidal (tide, current) and solar (photovoltaic solar panels).
With two sources of renewable energy, the goal of providing full-time assistance to society is easier to achieve, as the two combine to meet public demand.
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In technical terms, FITS, the British company's platform, is an anchored floating unit. It uses two vertical axis turbines in order to make the most of the flow of rivers, converting kinetic energy into electrical energy through a conversion process.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that the project was developed with other scenarios in mind as well. This is the case of shallow rivers, for example, which can easily receive the FITS and still be able to generate energy, even if there is no submersion. The electrical equipment, in these cases, would be positioned above the water, which would make maintenance even easier, should they be needed at some point.
In the context of large seas, turbines are completely submerged. Thanks to the force of the currents, they are moved and, thus, the phenomenon of hydrokinetic energy happens – the force of the water being converted into electrical energy for the population.
Achelous Energy points out that the method is advantageous compared to other renewable energies and requires less financial investment
From an environmental point of view, the Achelous Energy team points out that FITS works in a non-invasive way, which is why it reinforces the sustainable content of the initiative.
In addition, the group also makes some comparisons by comparing the method developed with traditional hydroelectric energy, known to be harmful to nature. FITS does not need dams or large structures to be able to function, which, consequently, reduces the expenses necessary to make it work, in addition to reducing the wear and tear on the environment.
When compared to renewable energy sources, FITS also demonstrates an advantage. For onshore solar and wind farms, for example, it is necessary to have a considerable fraction of land for the initiative to take place, while Achelous Energy's initiative does not depend on it.
So far, an agreement has been signed with the Nepal Energy Foundation with the aim of carrying out the first FITS tests and analyzing its functionality. This step, at a smaller level, is essential for analyzing the scope of the project and envisioning how it will work on a larger scale.
With a suspended platform capable of collecting energy from currents and photovoltaic solar panels, it may indeed be possible to generate sustainable energy, as the English company is trying to prove.
