
Early 1980s
Motivated to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, inventor Dan Schneider works with friends from Texas A&M to find new ways to generate renewable energy, inspiring his children, Gia and Abe, at a young age

Early 1990s
As teens, siblings Gia and Abe Schneider discover
the positive ecological benefit beaver dams can have on river health

2009
Gia and Abe Schneider co-found Natel Energy, supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy

2010
Buckeye pilot project
features Natel's first-generation hydro turbine

2011
Natel conducts first hydrologic tests at Alden Research Laboratory

2013
Natel commissions on-site hydraulic test facility

2015
Natel commissions first commercial project for Apple

2016
Natel commissions second commercial
project using second-generation turbine

2017
Natel acquires Upstream Tech, author of HydroForecast watershed intelligence software

2019
Natel unveils the fish-safe Restoration Hydro Turbine (RHT)

2019
Natel installs the first RHT at The Mill in Freedom, Maine

March 2020
Natel announces $11M funding close with
Schneider Electric Ventures and Breakthrough Energy Ventures

Fall 2020
Natel commissions Monroe Hydropower Project in Madras, Oregon, utilizing a utility-scale RHT

Fall 2020
Natel and Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) conduct RHT passage tests with rainbow trout; results show 100% immediate and 48-hour survival for through-turbine passage

JULY 2021
Natel announces $20M Series B funding with
Breakthrough Energy Ventures to continue growing modern hydropower

JUNE 2022
Natel and PNNL conduct turbine passage tests with large adult rainbow trout, resulting in >99% safe passage of some of the largest fish ever successfully passed through a compact hydro turbine

August 2022
The scientific journal Transactions of the American Fisheries Society publishes Natel's peer-reviewed study conducted with PNNL; results show 100% immediate and 48-hour survival

OCTOBER 2022
Austrian utility Energie Steiermark opens the Sauerbrunn Hydro Project, featuring the first fully-submersible RHT and the first RHT to operate in Europe

OCTOBER 2022
Natel and MyHydro announce, at the US-Africa Business Forum, their contract to install fish-safe RHTs in the first of 33 potential projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo

March 2023
North American Journal of Fisheries Management publishes a peer-reviewed study by Natel and Kleinschmidt Associates; results show 98-100% survival of juvenile alewife passing through a D55 RHT, measured immediately and after 48 hours