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Emrgy: Turning Canals Into Hydropower Installations
Emrgy's first array, installed for Denver Water.
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olar and wind power have exploded in popularity in recent years as facilities have become cheaper to build, but up until now, this has not been true of a third renewable power source, hydropower. This is primarily because hydropower relies on large installations that require civil construction. Atlanta-based Emrgy is seeking to change all this with its small, modular, distributed hydropower installations, which can be installed without civil construction. A new partnership with General Electric (GE) will allow Emrgy to build its hydropower modules at scale and market them around the world. In this interview, Emily Morris, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Emrgy, speaks with Municipal Water Leader about the nuts and bolts of her company’s product and why it is appropriate for municipal water suppliers around the country and the globe. Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about yourself and your company.
6 | MUNICIPAL WATER LEADER
PHOTO COURTESY OF EMRGY.
Emily Morris: I’m the founder and CEO of Emrgy. My background is not in the water industry but in technology development, and in defense contracting in particular. In one of my previous roles, I worked with a team of engineers to
build Emrgy’s core technology as part of a project funded by the U.S. Navy. I was personally inspired by the kind of value that the technology we were developing could have. Our product had modular, flexible, standardized attributes similar to those found in solar power, yet used the medium of water, which is controllable, reliable, and predictable. That combination could result in more sustainable and reliable baseload power and presented an economically attractive and affordable energy solution. I acquired the intellectual property from the company where I helped build this product in 2014. In 2015, we were awarded additional research funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue building out the product. I was able to leverage that research sponsorship to bring on venture capital and impact investment, and we were able to secure pilot projects with the City of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management; Southern Company; and most recently, Denver Water. Those pilots will allow us to showcase and demonstrate our product’s performance and efficacy. Now we have partnered with GE Renewable Energy to manufacture our product and sell it around the world. With our partners at GE, we’re deploying our products to municipalities as well as to the agricultural or irrigation sectors here in the United States.
