Easy Hydro CEO, Daniele Novara, has been announced as a finalist in the upcoming EU Sustainable Energy Awards for the first-ever hydropower station installed a mine. The public vote to decide the winner is open until the 22nd of October, and it is now possible to support Novara by clicking on the link below:
Click here to vote for Daniele
Just 40 kilometres north of Dublin, Ireland, a water turbine located deep in a zinc mine is producing 30 kW of clean energy thanks to a novel technology developed by Daniele Novara, 29, and his start-up Easy Hydro. The technology stemmed from Daniele’s work at Trinity College Dublin and uses modular water pumps to create low-cost, small-scale hydropower stations capable of exploiting untapped energy within existing water pipes.
At this site alone we will see annual savings of 200 MWh, the equivalent of powering roughly 50 households, and an offset of about 60 tonnes of carbon per year
“Our installation at the zinc mine in Ireland is the first-ever hydropower station within an operating underground mine. At this site alone we will see annual savings of 200 MWh, the equivalent of powering roughly 50 households, and an offset of about 60 tonnes of carbon per year,” explains Novara. “Our technology is particularly suitable for recovering energy from pipe networks and existing water infrastructure, making it a scalable solution for mining companies looking to green their operations and consume less electricity”.
During his PhD at Trinity College Dublin, Daniele, an Italian-born engineer, developed the intellectual property that eventually led to him founding Easy Hydro at the end of 2019. Thanks to collaboration with EU-based equipment manufacturers and a Swedish mining company, together with funding from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s (EIT) Raw Materials consortium, he and his team were able to complete the first turbine installation in 2021.
There is an outstanding potential with this technology. Its widespread use could result in savings of over 400,000 tonnes of CO2 annually
Prior to completing his PhD in Ireland, Daniele obtained a BSc in Italy at Politecnico di Torino and a double MSc degree in Energy Engineering and Management from universities in Poland and Portugal offered by the EIT InnoEnergy consortium. This international outlook has followed Daniele to the business world, where as CEO of Easy Hydro he is already in discussions to replicate the hydropower station with major mining companies in areas such as North America, South Africa and Sweden.
“Our goal now is to focus on commercialisation and creating a positive impact in the mining sector at scale,” said Novara. “The pilot installation proves that we can produce carbon-free electricity from surplus water pressure in the underground works in a cost-effective way”.
“There is an outstanding potential with this technology. Its widespread use could result in savings of over 400,000 tonnes of CO2 annually,” he continued.
With large-scale adoption of the technology, Novara is optimistic about the impact his company can make and its contribution to bringing the EU closer to the 2030 climate targets.
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