Challenges Catalyst

Floating across rivers and streams to generate affordable, accessible renewable energy with less damage to the local ecosystem, HydroWheel is the world’s first inflatable waterwheel. It emphasises lower costs, durability, easy installation and continuous power production. The innovation’s commercial and impact potential in sub-Saharan Africa is further enhanced by the region’s abundant hydro resources, where the installed capacity is estimated at 30.4 GW; 300 GW potential remains untapped.

This project will determine how HydroWheel can commercialise and optimise the design of its innovation to provide an alternative (or complementary) technology to incumbent renewable energy technologies (including conventional pico-hydro, solar PV, and diesel generators) and ultimately satisfy the electricity needs of under-served communities throughout SSA (starting with Uganda).