Sundermann Water Turbine shortlisted in the Australian Cleantech Ideas Competition

The Sundermann Water Turbine, currently in the final week of manufacture, has been shortlisted in the Australian Cleantech Ideas Competition from more than 70 entries across the country.

The competition is to identify the best ways of addressing the challenges of climate change and sustainability.

Sundermann’s Chairman, Ed Gibson said:

“The company is delighted that our turbine has been recognised amongst so many other clean technology ideas. We are driven by a desire to offer an affordable, dependable, alternative to diesel and other fossil fuels.”

The turbine operates in river, stream and tidal flows as slow as 2 – 3 m/sec at which speed it can generate enough power for the energy needs of an average Australian household or a cluster of village dwellings in developing communities.

“Imagine being able to couple this device to a generator or to pump water to fields and crops. We think that remote and developing communities will be an important market and isolated mining communities in high rainfall areas another.” he said.

The turbine is currently being manufactured to high engineering specifications and will then undergo a period of rigorous testing before going to the market next year.

The inventor Fred Sundermann, remains modest about his renewable energy invention but stated, “Its uniqueness is that all the blades contribute a force, in the same direction, for at least a third of the entire cycle of each rotation and it is able to operate bi-directionally, making it ideal for tidal movements.”

The Awards dinner will be held in Sydney on Thursday 6 October where the winner will be announced by host James O’Loghlin from the New Inventors.

The winner will be flown to San Francisco for a week in November to attend Global Entrepreneurship Week and to compete in the global finals of the Ideas competition.