![Dan Schneider and friends.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff6fc_DanSchneider_20050928_234140_WEB.jpg)
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.
![Abe and Gia study the river.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff6f9_IMG_20200128_201843_AbeGia_beaverstream.jpg)
Early 1990s
As teens, siblings Gia and Abe discover
the positive ecological benefit beaver dams can have on river health.
![Abe and Gia start the company.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff701_20120725_141950_AbeGia_history_WEB.jpg)
2009
Gia Schneider and Abe Schneider co-found Natel Energy, supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.
![First generation Natel hydro turbine at Buckeye pilot project.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff6fa_20120608_163318_Buckeye_WEB.jpg)
2010
Buckeye pilot project
features Natel's first-generation hydro turbine.
![2011 Natel tests at Alden.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff705_20111111_063643_HydroEngine_WEB.jpg)
2011
Natel conducts first hydrologic tests at Alden Research Laboratory.
![Onsite hydraulic test.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff706_20131010_101021_hydraulictest_WEB.jpg)
2013
Natel commissions on-site hydraulic test facility.
![Monroe Hydro Plant.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff6fe_20150629_214423_Monroe_WEB.jpg)
2015
Natel commissions first commercial project for Apple.
![Natel's second generation turbine.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff700_20160718_031333_HydroEngine.jpg)
2016
Natel commissions second commercial
project using second-generation turbine.
![Upstream Tech logo.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff7bf_Upstream_logo_stacked_timeline.png)
2017
Natel acquires Upstream Tech, author of HydroForecast watershed intelligence software.
![Natel's RHT prior to install.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff707_RHT_Monroe_small_WEB.jpg)
2019
Natel unveils the first FishSafe™ Restoration Hydro Turbine (RHT).
![Freedom Hydro Plant in Maine.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff70a_20160428_145512_Freedom_WEB.jpg)
2019
Natel installs the first RHT at The Mill at Freedom Falls in Freedom, Maine.
![Natel RHT runner closeup.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff711_5T8A4266_runner_closeup_WEB.jpg)
March 2020
Natel announces $11M funding close with
Schneider Electric Ventures and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
![Monroe Hydro at night.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff709_20200825-220014-2_Monroe_night_WEB.jpg)
Fall 2020
Natel commissions Monroe Hydropower Project in Madras, Oregon, utilizing a utility-scale FishSafe™ RHT.
![Fish passage testing at Monroe.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff70e_20200914-123319_Monroe_fish_WEB.jpg)
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.
![Restoration Hydro Turbine in Oregon.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff70b_20200822-101000-Edit_turbine_Monroe_WEB.jpg)
JULY 2021
Natel announces $20M Series B funding with
Breakthrough Energy Ventures to continue growing modern hydropower.
![Rainbow trout](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff73c_5T8A3686_trout_tank_WEB.jpg)
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.
![American eels in fish tank.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff737_5T8A1116_eel_tank_WEB.jpg)
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.
![Sauerbrunn RHT installed.](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff712_20221220-118_Edit_Sauerbrunn_RHT_install_WEB.jpg)
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.
![Gia with other leaders at the US Africa Business Forum in 2022](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff6e1_Gia_US-Africa_summit.jpg)
OCTOBER 2022
Natel and MyHydro announce, at the US-Africa Business Forum, their contract to install FishSafe™ RHTs in the first of 33 potential projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
![Juvenile alewife swim in a holding tank](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff71b_5T8A0779_alewife_WEB.jpg)
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 55cm-diameter RHT, measured immediately and after 48 hours.
![CFD image of RHT](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/660c637d4bb1ef487b6ff473/66747c5b45b47f119702fc11_engineering-carousel-06.png)
June 2023
RHT design envelope expands to 40 m (130 ft) head & >99 m3/s (>3500 cfs) flow, meeting needs of 50% of hydro fleet