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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
