Three Applications Submitted For River Turbines
There are some very exciting developments brewing concerning hydropower and the Niagara River. Suddenly there have been three applications proposed for underwater turbine farms in both the Upper and Lower River. These proposals have been issued before many of the preliminary studies of hydro turbines in the East River have been completed. This could be big for the WNY area… it is also too early to pit the environmental benefits and concerns against each other.
From Riverkeeper Larry Brooks:
“The intention is to build one project on the US side… though there are now three proposals in total. One application is for the Upper River and two are for the Lower River. The one on the Upper River would be located somewhere between the Peace Bridge and the Northern tip of Grand Island. There is a map where they have pinpointed the start and stop. There are several concerns including river habitat impact on fish. On the East River they have not completed the study on the impacts of fish, river flow, etc. The turbine blades do turn slowly, but the current travels fairly quickly. There are variable speeds as well. The proposal for the Upper River is from a Massachusetts firm… it’s for 875 turbines (clustered)… and we’re sill looking into the Lower River applications. This will not just impact the water - there are power lines that come out of the water and onto the land. There would also be an impact of the flow of the river… whether that would impact power sources lower in the river is not determined. These initial permits are for further study, not to build. It looks like it will take 36 months to conduct economic and environmental studies. This is the time for the public to file any sort of comments about the concept (pro or con). The deadline for the Upper River project is May 20th. We’re staying open minded and accepting information from all sources. We hope to have an opinion, one way or another, very soon. We just found out this morning that there were three companies submitting applications… that is very surprising (Houston has two applications in the Lower River… one for 36 units and one for 54 units).”
From Riverkeeper Julie O’Neill:
“It is going to be really interesting. We’re just starting to look at the issues. The river is already impacted by previous projects… we need to be sure that this will not tip the river over the edge. We’re looking at access, habitat, temperatures… we have to look at all three proposals at the same time. We don’t want to end up with a Peace Bridge project. This is the first that we have heard about this… there has been no public input because the public was not notified... that is unfortunate. This is very early technology… this could be one of the cleanest, healthiest sources of electricity, but we want to make sure that The Niagara does not take another one on the chin. Let’s think through the details… it is not an easy project… we don’t want to rush it. This is not any other river – it is very different. It’s just less than 90% of North America’s fresh water.”
Photos of East River from Verdant Power website
For further info, visit the Riverkeeper website.
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Comment Options
GDC
The one in the East River are giving power to I believe the entire Roosevelt Island between Manhattan and Queens.
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InTheBuffalo
I think this is a good way for Buffalo to Capitalize on the alternative energy market. However, I do envision lawsuit after lawsuit on this one. It always amazes me that enviromentalist hate coal power or nucleur power, but when alternative forms of power are proposed like wind turbines or underwater turbines they are against those too...
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nyc
SO there are all these major corporations buying offsets for their Carbon Footprint, maybe Buffalo can be the "Carbon Footprint Offset Store". Send money this way and in return we send you that warm fuzzy feeling about carborn footprints that you then sell in your marketing brochures.
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sbrof
yes any power generated has to be pit against the problems and pollution caused by the coal fired power plant on the waters edge in Tonawanda. How much less mercury, sulfur and co2 will be spewed by the power generated from the these turbines. What are the huge health costs of running that plant vs starting to replace it with cleaner renewable energy sources.
I think these are a fantastic idea. I would also like to hope that the power generated by these will stay local. Lets not produce it to send it downstate so that we must keep running the cancer and asthma factory in Tonawanda.
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BuffaloRox
While interesting from a renewable energy standpoint, I don't see how this is big for WNY. I never heard of any power from the wind turbines in Lackawanna being diverted for local benefit. Maybe the permitting for this project could result in a portion of the power being allocated for local consumption at below market rates.
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Keith
The companies involved should pre-emptively suggest some environmental projects such as the restoration of the Lake Sturgeon population or something like that to sweeten the pot. With sensitive enough studies you can prove that any action will effect the environment. However, if you make sure the action is a net-benefit to the environment this would help move the project forward.
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chris69
ok, here is an even bigger idea that will generate much more than any stupid turbine for the westside and downtown buffalo and south buffalo (queenseyes)
HEAT PUMPS CAN SAVE 50% OF ALL HVAC COSTS.
HEAT PUMPS CAN BE VERTICAL MEANING INTO THE GROUND FOR GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
or
HEAT PUMPS CAN BE HORIZONTAL ALONG THE GROUND. THEREFORE IMAGINE IF THE ENTIRE OUTER HARBOR BETWEEN THE LAND AND THE BREAK WALL, AS WELL AS THE ENTIRE BARGE CANAL WERE BURRIED WITH TUBING FOR HEAT PUMPS.
The entire westside, downtown and south buffalo could get 50% savings on air condition
The entire westside, downtown and south buffalo could get 50% savings in winter heating.
IT WOULD BE ENOUGH TO MAKE ANY AREA OUTSIDE THE HEAT PUMP SAVINGS DISTRICT TO BE SIMPLY NOT AN OPTION.
IMAGINE ALL THE BROWNFIELDS BEING RE-INDUSTRIALIZED/RECOMMERCIALIZED IN MAXIMUM DENSITY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ENERGY SAVINGS.
IMAGINE 2 STORY SUBURBAN BUILDINGS BEING THE NORM TO 10 STORY URBAN BUILDINGS BEING THE NORM TO TAKE MAXIMUM ADVANTAGE OF ENERGY SAVINGS.
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Matthewjohnp
Looks like it might hurt the fish...
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Keith
Heat pumps are good. Make sure you buy them from WFI Industries because I own stock in them. :)
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mbhxam
fish puree!
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mbhxam
fish puree!
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sbrof
heat pumps are just a part of the solution. I whole heartedly agree that we need to use them more but within water isn't the right answer for them. While good for air conditioning water gets too cold in the winter for heating. You need to drill into the earth itself for the heat. By doing that we can get much more than just 50% of our heat from the ground.
Either way heating and electricity are usually two very separated systems in WNY. So while we can get heat from the earth a geothermal powerplant isn't really an option around here so we still need a form of clean electricity to power everything else.
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NewBuffalo
what about the birds? these will make bird shred.....just kidding.........ha...ha..
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chris69
sfbrof, you dont know what your talking about!!!
first, no one is talking about a geothermal power plant
second, a heat pump is very different than a geothermal electric generator
third, heat pumps can extract enough from temperature differential everyplace in the continental US.
third, as I said before exploiting a temperature differential can be done vertically by laying tublng in the black rock canal, niagara river and/or outer harbor......and it would have the same efficiency as drilling down a geothermal well into the ground.
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Quinn
Pureed or not, does anybody actually eat the fish from the Niagara River? Do they glow?
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