Journal of Science and Arts Volume 23, Issue 1, pp. 319-326, 2023 https://doi.org/10.46939/J.Sci.Arts-23.1-c06 Physics Section ORIGINAL PAPER EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON A KINETIC HYDRO TURBINE - GENERATOR ASSEMBLY ALEXANDRU SPIRIDON MILCA 1,3 , FLORENTINA BUNEA 2 , ADRIAN NEDELCU 2 , SERGIU NICOLAIE 2 , CORINA ALICE BABUTANU 2 , CRISTIAN SIMIONESCU 2 _________________________________________________ Manuscript received: 22.09.2022; Accepted paper: 16.02.2023; Published online: 30.03.2023. Abstract. The present paper is part of a larger project whose purpose is to develop a new hydrokinetic turbine-generator assembly, suitable for very low head water courses. It presents the experimental results of a turbine–generator physical model, installed on the tailrace of Mihailesti Hydropower Plant. In order to carry out the measurements, a floating structure and an anchoring system was installed on the power plant tailrace. This system also allowed the translation of the assembly between the two shores. A first set of measurements followed the water velocity and depth in the channel at various load values of the hydropower plant units, in order to determine the proper conditions for testing the model. The turbine gives the possibility of blades adjustment at three different angles, 0, 9 and 14 degrees respectively. Therefore, a set of measurements has been performed for each position of the blades. The measured parameters were the electric parameters of the generator such as voltage, current and the power variation with rotation speed. For the blades adjustment of 9 degrees and 1.76 m/s water velocity, the generator reached its maximum power of 500 W. The results retrieved will be used for the optimization and design of a new enlarged scale turbine– generator assembly. They will also be used as input data for the numerical modeling of the generator. Also, the exact knowledge of the channel geometry and flow parameters is valuable in studies preceding testing a prototype in the site. Keywords: hydrokinetic turbine; electric generator; in situ testing. 1. INTRODUCTION In the context of mitigating climate change and reducing the carbon footprint, energy production is more and more moving towards renewable technologies. In the last decade, the capacity installed worldwide in renewable energy sources increased from 1329 GW in 2011 [1] to 3068 GW in 2021 [2], reaching a share of 38.3% of the total production capacity [3]. Hydropower represents the largest contributor to this renewable capacity with over 1360 GW installed globally in 2021, reaching around 17% of the worldwide installed capacity [2]. One of the reasons for this growth is the interest in utility-scale renewable energy for converting solar, wind, and hydro potential [4]. In hydropower, besides the large-scale developments, there is a continuous interest in harnessing the small potential in water currents and waves [4]. This can be achieved by using low-head conversion technologies such as hydrokinetic turbines. River kinetic energy is showing its strong potential as an alternative energy supply 1 SC Mecanica IND2004, Bucharest, Romania. E-mail: alexandru.milca@mecanicaind.ro . 2 National Institute for R&D in Electric Engineering, ICPE-CA, Department of Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Efficiency, 030138 Bucharest, Romania. E-mail: florentina.bunea@icpe-ca.ro . 3 University “Politehnica” of Bucharest, Power Engineering Faculty, Bucharest, Romania.