Commercial · Pico Hydropower
Pico Hydropower
Turn a small drop in a river or canal into clean power, 24 hours a day.
Pico hydro grabs energy from passing water. A low-head vortex turbine needs just a 1.5–5 metre drop for firm, round-the-clock power — no dam, fish passing safely through.
01 — Overview
Baseload power from a gentle drop in the water
- Works on a drop of just 1.5–5 metres
- Damless, run-of-river installation
- Fish-friendly gravitational vortex
- One moving part — very low maintenance
Pico hydro grabs energy from passing water. A low-head vortex turbine needs just a 1.5–5 metre drop for firm, round-the-clock power — no dam, fish passing safely through.
Typical specifications
Indicative ranges for a representative installation. Final specification is confirmed at design stage against site survey and measured load.
- Head required
- 1.5 – 5 m (low head)
- Unit capacity
- 5 – 70 kW per turbine
- Turbine type
- Gravitational water vortex
- Moving parts
- One (slow-turning rotor)
- Configuration
- Damless run-of-river
- Ecology
- Fish- and sediment-friendly
- Availability
- 24/7 baseload while flowing
- Design life
- 30+ years (civil works)
Ranges reflect typical industry standards and are indicative, not a guarantee of performance.
02 — Applications
Where this technology is applied
The settings we most commonly deploy this system in, and the duty it performs in each.
Low-head river sites
Harvests power from a 1.5–5 m drop in a river or stream — no dam, no reservoir, minimal civil works.
Irrigation canals
Existing canal drops and weirs are ideal vortex sites, generating power from infrastructure that already exists.
Rural mini-grids
Anchors a stable local network with continuous baseload for households and enterprises around the clock.
Agricultural estates
Gives tea, coffee and sugar estates firm power for processing and irrigation from their own water.
Diesel displacement
Replaces generators at remote sites where hauling fuel dominates the true cost of power.
Hydro–solar hybrid
Pairs with PV and storage so seasonal flow variation is covered and output tracks demand.
03 — Outcomes
The steady renewable that never waits for weather
- Firm 24/7 power, every season it flows
- Runs day and night, rain or shine
- Near-zero fuel and running cost
- Decades of service life from the civil works
Pico hydro’s superpower is firmness: unlike solar and wind, a vortex turbine spins day and night, every season the water flows — real renewable baseload for a single farm, factory or trading centre. The magic is how little it asks: a 1.5-to-5-metre drop means no dam, no reservoir, no penstock, so cost, permitting and ecological impact stay small. The slow vortex is fish-friendly, letting fish and sediment pass unharmed. With one moving part, upkeep is light and local, the civil works last decades, and power is nearly free. Swap dirty diesel for a quiet, constant supply, and pair with solar where flow dips. One rule: the water must truly be there, so we always measure head and flow first.
Best suited to
- Sites beside a river, stream or irrigation canal with a small, steady drop
- Farms, estates and factories wanting firm 24/7 power without a dam
- Rural mini-grids and institutions replacing expensive diesel generation
04 — Track record
Where we have implemented it
Reference installations delivered and commissioned by our engineers.
- 15 kW2023
Irrigation-canal vortex
Kabarole District
Continuous power from an existing canal drop; diesel retained for standby only.
- 30 kW2023
Community mini-grid
Kisoro District
Round-the-clock supply to a trading centre and surrounding households via a local network.
- 20 kW2022
Mission hospital scheme
Bundibugyo District
Firm supply to wards, theatre and cold chain, removing dependence on fuel deliveries.
Project details are representative of work delivered in this sector. Figures are rounded; full case studies available on request.
05 — Delivery
The installation process
Every installation follows the same engineered sequence, from first survey to commissioning and handover.
We measure head (often 1.5–5 m) and seasonal flow to confirm the resource and size the turbine.
A short, low structure diverts flow into a round basin — no dam, no reservoir, just the natural drop.
Water swirls into a gravitational vortex driving a slow turbine — the single moving part.
That turbine feeds a generator for your site, mini-grid or grid, holding steady voltage and frequency.
The slow rotor and open passage let fish and sediment pass safely — great for permitting and the river.
When dry-season flow dips, the vortex pairs with solar and storage to track demand year-round.
We commission, test performance and train local operators; with one moving part, upkeep is minimal.
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