| Current Poll |
Who do you think should manage Ferriday water?
View Results
|
|
Story Archives: Hydrokinetic projects eyed locally on Mississippi River
- 2013 - 340 articles
- 2012 - 856 articles
- 2011 - 635 articles
- 2010 - 1276 articles
- 2009 - 1591 articles
- 2008 - 1763 articles
- December 2008 - 148 articles
- November 2008 - 147 articles
- October 2008 - 183 articles
- September 2008 - 128 articles
- August 2008 - 150 articles
- July 2008 - 143 articles
- June 2008 - 120 articles
- May 2008 - 148 articles
- April 2008 - 147 articles
- March 2008 - 143 articles
- February 2008 - 146 articles
- January 2008 - 160 articles
- January 31st, 2008 (Thursday) - 21 articles
- January 30th, 2008 (Wednesday) - 9 articles
- January 28th, 2008 (Monday) - 2 articles
- January 24th, 2008 (Thursday) - 23 articles
- January 23rd, 2008 (Wednesday) - 12 articles
- January 17th, 2008 (Thursday) - 35 articles
- January 16th, 2008 (Wednesday) - 1 articles
- January 12th, 2008 (Saturday) - 1 articles
- January 10th, 2008 (Thursday) - 16 articles
- January 9th, 2008 (Wednesday) - 15 articles
- January 8th, 2008 (Tuesday) - 1 articles
- January 3rd, 2008 (Thursday) - 14 articles
- January 2nd, 2008 (Wednesday) - 10 articles
|
Hydrokinetic projects eyed locally on Mississippi River
Applications to perform feasibility studies for three different "non-traditional" hydroelectric projects on the Mississippi River have been filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Two proposed projects are located along the Mississippi River between Concordia Parish and Adams County, and a third between Tensas Parish and Jefferson County.
A Portland, ME, company, Free Flow Power Corporation, is seeking to perform feasibility studies on two projects -- the "Natchez Beam Light Project" between Concordia and Adams, and the "Kempe Bend Project" between Tensas Parish and Jefferson County, Miss.
Hydro Green Energy LLC, with offices in Houston, Tex., and Birmingham, Ala., is seeking a permit for a study for the "Mississippi 6 Project" between Concordia and Adams.
Free Flow Power Corporation has 59 applications for studies from St. Louis southward to Gulf of Mexico, said company spokesman Daniel Irvin. Each application is for a permit to perform a 36-month feasibility study.
"These are not a conventional hydroelectric projects," said Irvin. "It's known as 'hydrokinetic' or free flow technology. This captures energy from the movement of water without dams. We're focusing on river energy without diverting the flow."
"The process we are in now is for a feasibility study, not for a license" to build and operate, said Irvin. "If our request is approved, it will give us the right to study the project."
The three proposed local projects include:
• Kempe Bend Project
-- A total of 2,700, 20-kilowatt free flow generating units with a total installed capacity of 54 megawatts.
-- A transmission line.
-- A mooring system comprised of either free standing pilings or existing infrastructure to anchor the units.
-- Auxiliary facilities.
The project would have an average annual generation of 236.520 gigawatt-hours and be sold to a local utility.
• Natchez Beam Light Project
-- A total of 2,950, 20-kilowatt free flow generating units with a total installed capacity of 59 megawatts.
-- A transmission line.
-- A mooring system comprised of either free standing pilings or existing infrastructure which will anchor the units
-- Auxiliary facilities.
This project would have an average annual generation of 258.42 gigawatt-hours, which would be sold to a local utility.
• Mississippi 6 Project
-- 5 arrays, each consisting of ten, 100-kilowatt hydrokinetic turbine units, for a total installed capacity of 5 megawatts.
-- A transmission line no greater than 2000 feet from the "node" array to the shore.
-- A mooring system which does not require the use of pilings to permanently attach the units to the bedrock but instead uses tethers and Danforth type anchors.
-- Auxiliary facilities.
The Hydro Green Energy, LLC project would have an average annual generation of 32.873 gigawatt-hours, which would be sold to a local utility.
New technology, said Irvin of Free Flow, makes these projects "an economically viable project without using very much of the river. We are going to mount turbines on pilings in these projects, and drive the pilings into river bed. The pilings are not strung across river but in line with the bank."
Because the project is located on a bend in the river, "water typically accelerates as it goes around the bend, typically on the outside of the bend. One of the great things about the Mississippi is that it has lots of bends."
Irvin said the project would be located "outside the navigation channel and within U.S. Army Corps of Engineer guidelines. The turbines turn quite slowly. There is no artificial pressure or head to suck in fish or anything. This technology allows us to have turbines that turn slowly but still produce energy in a way that is cost-effective."
Irvin said the company wishes to address environmental issues posed by the public.
"We will not compromise on environmental issues and will not hurt the aquatic environment," he said.
For more information, contact Free Flow at 978-232-3536, or Hydro Green Energy 877-556-6566.
To comment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, call 202-502-6393. |
|
| Frank Morris Murder Series |
|
|
E-mail Story
Print Story
