HYDRO was established in the TOBB ETU campus with the financial support of the Ministry of Development in the amount of 10 million TL. TOBB contributed by constructing the test center building and supplying necessary human resources. It is an independent research center where mechanical and hydraulic designs of water turbines, model tests in accordance with international standards with manufacturing and quality control steps, and different field services such as reverse engineering, measurement and commissioning can be performed under one roof. In September 2011; under the leadership of project coordinator Prof. Dr. Selin Aradağ, project coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kutay Çelebioğlu and consultant responsible for control, manufacturing and measurement Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yiğit Taşcıoğlu, the Computer Aided Design Laboratory, one of the three main units of the center, was established and opened for use in 2013. With the introduction of the Model Turbine Test Assembly in 2016, HYDRO started to work at full capacity.
Between February 2015 and March 2021, HYDRO took part in the Rehabilitation of Hydroelectric Power Plant Components with Domestic Facilities (MILHES) Project with the support of TUBITAK KAMAG; acted as a partner responsible for turbine design, model testing and manufacturing. The project was carried out at the Kepez-1 Hydroelectric Power Plant, while the efficiency of the power plant was increased, the cost of manufacturing new hydroelectric power plants was reduced by implementing local design and manufacturing practices. Within the scope of the project, the vertical type francis turbine, generator, speed regulator, excitation system, mechanical components and all auxiliary components formed the basis of the national hydroelectric power plant was redesigned and manufactured locally. In 2019, the unit was successfully completed and commissioned and continues to produce energy to date.
Our team consists of 16 people and works together with faculty members in different specialties, researchers at master's and doctoral levels, and undergraduate students within the scope of TOBB ETU joint education program.
Iin line with the same goal, center combines theoretical knowledge with practice by supporting the research in hydroelectricity with its the technological infrastructure and experimental facilities. The Center aims to share these achievements within the university in conjunction with the public institutions and private sector companies it cooperates with. Center, aims to implement and facilitate its capabilities in the projects carried out, works to develop know-how adequate in the design of water turbines in Turkey, within the framework of the university-industry cooperation that TOBB ETU has adopted as a mission.