Mesa Associates brings new hydropower acquisition to Knoxville
Already the largest of the company's locations, the new NuSTREEM product will add to the region's prominence as an energy technology hotspot.
In early January, Mesa Associates Inc., a woman minority-owned full-service multi-discipline engineering, procurement, and construction management firm, announced that it had acquired the assets of Connecticut-based NuSTREEM LLC. Five months later, the Madison, AL-headquartered company, held a ribbon cutting for the relocated division that will be housed in one of several buildings Mesa occupies in West Knoxville.
The announcement on Wednesday was another economic development win for the community and the Knoxville Chamber. While the number of jobs is not significant, at least at the outset, it marks yet another victory for the region and its reputation as an energy technology hotspot – from renewables to nuclear and everything in between.
In the case of NuSTREEM, the focus is on hydropower, clearly an important source of clean, renewable power. The acquisition allows Mesa to offer a small generating unit that minimizes the impact on the environment from its installation, operation, and generation. The units can replace diesel-powered generators used for plant start-up, provide a source for plant battery or grid-based BESS (battery energy storage system) configurations, and provide a continuous flow of water to support or maintain minimum stream flow requirements.
The current hydro unit can handle water heads ranging from 10 to 40 feet. Mesa intends to enhance this low-head design further and develop a new design for applications up to 150 feet of head. Mesa will provide small-generating solutions for their client’s needs by having two options.
“It’s basically plug and operate,” said Mesa Senior Vice President Tim Ramsey at Wednesday’s event. “The unit is very small and modular,” a feature that makes installation much easier.
NuSTREEM believed that growth in the U.S. small hydropower sector would rely on modular and intelligent generation equipment and innovative deployment platforms. Building on that insight, NuSTREEM developed turbine technology combined with advanced control technology and an inventive standardized project deployment application. This extremely efficient machine can generate clean energy from a renewable resource with minimal environmental impact.
The original team at NuSTREEM began by putting the technology to work near the Connecticut headquarters and manufacturing facility at Kirby Mill in 2014. With the installation of the turbines, the facility has been 100 percent powered by clean, renewable, and reliable generation from hydropower. The technologies are rugged and adaptable, making them well-suited for many site applications. In addition, the units’ modularity and ease of installation not only open up sites for new, small hydropower projects but can also be used at existing sites to reduce outages and increase the efficiency and output of the facility.
Mesa lists 18 locations around the country on its website, something that Mark Field, the Knoxville Chamber’s Senior Vice President of Investor Development and Experience, noted as he moderated the ceremony.
“They could have put it anywhere, but Mesa chose Knoxville,” he said. As Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs later noted, “Their presence here in Knox County is the largest (of any location). We are so excited to see them expand even more with this acquisition.”
Ironically, in early March, Mesa was named the Chamber’s “2024 Woman-Owned Business Excellence” recipient at the prestigious Pinnacle Business Awards.
Founded by the late Chandrashekhar “Shekhar” Savant and Ranjana, his wife, in 1988, it was a short six years later that he unexpectedly died. She has led the company for the past 30 years as President and Chief Executive Officer.
Today, Mesa is providing more than $188 million of engineering services to 13 of the top 15 utilities across the U.S.
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