In September 2021, Natel worked with Kleinschmidt Associates on a through-turbine test of juvenile alewife, a migratory species of alosine, similar to American shad and blueback herring. The study included 800 total fish, with 60 percent passed through the turbine and the remainder serving as controls. Results indicate negligible turbine-related mortality; publication of a full report is pending.
2021 was a year of validation, bracketed by certifying our Freedom Falls plant as a Low Impact Hydro Installation, and by a suite of successful through-turbine fish passage tests in Q4.