November 27, 2020 — Since 2014, a research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) led by Jürgen Geist, a professor of aquatic systems biology, has been investigating the effects of hydroelectric power plants on aquatic habitats and fish moving downstream. What they discovered in the process may improve future dam planning, as well as retrofitting of existing hydroelectric power plants.
While fish moving upstream can get around a dam using a fish passage, those migrating downstream often enter the machinery. Conventional power plants equipped with Pelton, Kaplan, or Francis turbines have high fish mortality due to their high rotation speed, pressure changes, and shear forces, the researchers noted.