On the fast-flowing Kvichak River, close to the remote Alaskan village of Igiugig,
在湍急的克维奇克河,紧邻阿拉斯加伊几村庄,这是一片偏远的村落,
a large horizontal turbine with two sets of blades is slowly being positioned into place.
携带两组扇叶的大型卧式涡轮机正在慢慢就位。
Its pontoons soon were flooded, sinking the whole construction to the shallow bottom,
它的浮筒将要被河水淹没,将整个涡轮机沉于浅水底部,
where the river current will provide power for village residents.
河流将为村庄居民送去电力。
The turbine system, called RivGen, is manufactured by Ocean Renewable Power Company, ORPC.
这个涡轮系统名叫RivGen,由海洋可再生能源公司生产。
I've got a very low vertical profile so it allows us to deploy our technology in sites
它的纵断面很低,让我们能够进行技术运作,
that are much shallower than anybody else can do.
相比于别人,我们能够在更浅的地方实施。
RivGen turbines work at depths of about five meters, generating up to 50 kilowatts, usually enough to power small communities.
RivGen涡轮机在大约5米深的水域工作,生产达50千瓦电力,足够小型社区使用。
Sauer says the turbines are very safe for the environment.
索尔称这个涡轮机对于环境而言也很安全。
At the peak of salmon season, we had almost 2 million fish pass by this thing.
在鲑鱼顶峰期,将近200万条鱼会从这里通行,但最后发现。
At the end of all of that, we did not have a single fish injury that we knew about.
据我们所知道的是,还没有鱼受伤。
Horizontally-positioned turbines can be scaled to larger dimensions such as this one,
卧式涡轮机还可以增大维度,比如这个,
deployed not in a river but in Maine's Cobscook Bay, known for its strong tidal currents.
它不仅可以放在河中,还可以放在缅因州的科比斯克湾,这条海湾以湍流的水流而闻名。
The design is especially efficient here.
这里的涡轮机设计拥有高性能。
With crossflow turbines, it doesn't matter whether the water is coming or going, they always rotate in the same direction.
拥有交叉涡轮机,不管水流是来是走,它都会以一个方向转动。
The larger TidGen turbine can generate up to 600 kilowatts.
大型TidGen涡轮机可以产生高达600千瓦电力。
Its voltage varies as the tide ebbs and flows, but with additional electronics,
随着水势的起落,电压会发生变化,但只要拥有额外电子器件,
it can be stabilized and synchronized to interact with the main grid.
它依然可以保持稳定,与主要电网进行同步。
With a projected price of about 50 cents per kilowatt-hour, the system is not competitive with natural gas,
预计每千瓦时大约在50美分,该系统不具备天然气的竞争力,
but for remote communities, where diesel generators cost more than 1 dollars per hour,
但对于偏远社区而言,柴油发电机每小时要花费超过一美元,
energy from flowing water could be more economical.
水能发电或许更为经济。