HydroWheel Product and Business Case Development 

Partners: Challenges Catalyst Ltd (Lead), Centre For Research In Energy And Energy Conservation (Creec), Fluvial Bounty C.I.C., Hydrowheel Ltd

Country: Uganda

Technology: Next generation solar technologies and business models

Stage: Early

Stage: 9

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).