In his newly released eBook, Historic River Wheels Reimagined for Modern Hydropower, Bangladeshi electrical engineer Md. Moniruzzaman presents the River-Phase Hydro Pump Framework, a modular approach that converts river current directly into mechanical pumping and grid-stable hydropower—without dams or large reservoirs.

Dhaka, Bangladesh — December 2025

As global energy systems face mounting pressure from climate change, fuel volatility, and ecological constraints, a new engineering framework proposes a return to one of humanity's oldest renewable technologies—river wheels—reimagined for modern hydropower generation.
In his newly released eBook, Historic River Wheels Reimagined for Modern Hydropower, Bangladeshi electrical engineer Md. Moniruzzaman presents the River-Phase Hydro Pump Framework, a modular approach that converts river current directly into mechanical pumping and grid-stable hydropower—without dams or large reservoirs.

For centuries, floating river wheels and mills powered local economies across Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East. Their decline, Moniruzzaman argues, was not due to technical failure but to the rise of centralized fossil-fuel systems. Today, with distributed renewables gaining urgency, river-current energy is once again becoming relevant.

The proposed framework uses floating platforms equipped with multiple water wheels arranged between guided-flow corridors formed by triple-ferry structures. River current drives mechanical pumps that lift water to modest-height reservoirs, enabling conventional hydropower generation while maintaining grid stability. The same water can be returned to the river or reused for irrigation and productive applications, creating a dual-output energy and water system.

Unlike conventional dam-based hydropower, the system avoids deep reservoirs, large civil works, and ecological disruption. Its design emphasizes mechanical simplicity, modular deployment, and local manufacturability—making it especially suitable for river-rich and climate-vulnerable regions such as Bangladesh.

The eBook presents a realistic 50 kW reference unit, detailing system geometry, flow requirements, reservoir sizing, and spatial footprint. It also explores how multiple units can be deployed along wide rivers to form area-based mini-grids or grid-scale installations.

Moniruzzaman is best known for his work on the Two-Phase Wave Energy System, previously featured by AltEnergyMag. His current work extends the same low-tech, mechanically driven philosophy from ocean waves to river currents, reinforcing the role of water motion as an underutilized renewable resource.
The eBook is now available on Gumroad:
https://mmzbabu.gumroad.com/l/cwjlk

About the Author
Md. Moniruzzaman is an electrical engineer with over two decades of experience in power distribution and high-voltage transmission. His research focuses on mechanically driven renewable energy systems for wave and river environments, emphasizing simplicity, scalability, and resilience.