River Power Pod has developed simple but sophisticated technology in Lancashire to capture the vital watts needed to light up classrooms in developing countries. RPP can also recover power lost in the heart of industrial systems.

Mini-standalone turbines cast in durable metal can provide emergency disaster relief power, drive remote monitoring stations, power isolated pumping stations, help off-grid farmers, support visitor amenities… and be embedded in many routine manufacturing processes.

RedCAT (Red Rose County’s Centre for Advanced Technology) helps businesses to cross the treacherous commercialisation gap, deliver valuable economic outputs, and solve critical environmental problems, by embedding technology experts in projects like RPP to accelerate R&D – and importantly commercialisation – so that refined products can be made and sold at competitive prices around the world.

With RedCAT technical support and the careful use of government funding focused on a high ROI ratio, RPP developer Fern Flowing Power was able to refine its post-prototype product with design assistance from AMRC North West.

Specifically, a £300,000 development grant from RedCAT funded AMRC’s work in creating prototypes, testing, and developing RPP models that can be created using 3D printers.

Subsequentially, RedCAT paid for 3D printers to be sent to schools in Kenya where children and local communities now enthusiastically recycle plastic waste to print their own turbines – with non-metallic bearings!

RPP is also an example of how UK green-tech might contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals while helping the UK to meet its commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement (COP21).

In parallel, RPP development in the UK is also focussed on commercial designs for industry.

Developed as a low-cost, low-carbon, green solution to local problems where transport and spare parts are problematical, RPP is an inline miniature vortical-flow turbine that needs no concrete plinth and can be deployed directly into rivers, or off the side of boats.

Unlike other river portable power stations, RPP is extremely light, unobtrusive, requires little maintenance, does not need any channels to be made, and very importantly is easy for untrained hands to operate.

Ged Heffernan is the innovator behind RPP who believes efficient Lancashire-made green technologies should be part of a two-way partnership with the Global South that markets alone cannot provide.

“Tiny amounts of energy can go a long way,” he explains, a principle he has proved by harnessing energy from fast-flowing British rivers in a new generation of ultra-low-cost turbines. “We don’t need to burn things to make them go forward,” he adds. “In fact, we can do amazing things with just 5W from extremely efficient green technologies.”

Part of the RPP secret lies in miniaturising large processes down to match-box size. Materials and running costs then tumble. Another key element is well-designed energy storage systems. “It’s all about eking out the last bits of energy you can,” Ged adds.

However, while RPP achieves this, it faced the challenge of proving the viability – and potential profitability – of an innovation that needed to be commercialised successfully in markets with a strong community ethos, but also lucrative opportunities for manufacturers and end-users.

A key RedCAT priority is to help innovators with post-prototype and post-technical development products but no funding to cross the so-called ‘Valley of Death’ to successful marketisation by creating demonstration units that impress future customers without existing customers to refer too.

As RedCAT CEO Miranda Barker OBE explains, “RedCAT is all about getting viable technology across the globe, with RPP a prime example. One thing we understand very clearly is that markets often fail to close the young company commercial and funding gap largely because green-tech is not always the best cost choice in ordinary investment cycles.

“By making positive interventions at the right moment, RedCAT can make a crucial difference that is good for the UK economy, benefits the global climate, and is good for communities.”