Patent ID: 8646265

Claim:
An apparatus for providing power to a hydraulic turbine, the apparatus comprising: a main reservoir configured to hold a liquid; a buoyancy wheel rotatably suspended within the main reservoir, the buoyancy wheel including radially opposed first and second containment chambers configured so that when the buoyancy wheel is rotated into a position where one of the containment chambers is in an uppermost position the other containment chamber is in a lowermost position; and a hydraulic turbine including an input port selectively fluidically coupleable to the containment chamber in the uppermost position, and an output port selectively fluidically coupleable the containment chamber in the lowermost position, wherein fluidically coupling the input and output ports of the hydraulic turbine to the respective containment chambers provides a path through the hydraulic turbine for the liquid to flow from the containment chamber in the uppermost position to the containment chamber in the lowermost position.