At the Arden Enterprise Incubator, we're all about helping students turn bold ideas into real-world projects. One of our incubator ventures, DAT Hydropower, is doing exactly that.
Founded by Arden BSc (Hons) Computing Science student Benjamin Doue, DAT Hydropower aims to tackle one of the biggest challenges of our time: how to generate clean energy reliably and sustainably.
Benjamin’s fresh idea? A closed-loop hydroelectric dam that recycles water to generate renewable electricity — without damaging the environment. Think of it like pumped hydro, but smarter, faster, and far more efficient.
“I’m passionate about bridging software and systems design to address real-world environmental challenges,” Benjamin explains. “This idea sits at the intersection of sustainability, innovation, and technology — where real change happens.”
But Benjamin isn’t waiting for “someday” to start transforming his model into something real.
With support and guidance from the Arden Enterprise Incubator, he’s taking the smart path: starting with a small pilot project to prove the concept, stress-test the design, and gather real-world results. To get there, he's already reaching out to energy engineering specialists and environmental innovation groups like UK Catapults and the Carbon Trust to explore model validation, collaboration and support for next-stage development.
This is what entrepreneurship at the Arden Enterprise Incubator looks like:
Big thinking
Smart testing and validation
Real-world action
If you’ve got a big idea — even if it’s only a rough sketch — the Arden Enterprise Incubator can help put you on a pathway to getting it off the ground.
Join us at Founder Friday or book a one-to-one with the Arden Enterprise Incubator aei@arden.ac.uk
