River turbine project advances

>
> Jan 8 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Lori Shull Watertown Daily
> Times, N.Y.
>
> Plans to put underwater turbines in the St. Lawrence River are
> starting to flow, slowly.
> Verdant Power, a New York City-based company, has been working for
> several years to install underwater turbines in the St. Lawrence River
> near Cornwall, Ontario. The turbines will use the river's currents to
> generate 15 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 1,100 homes.
>
> Approximately $4.5 million has been secured for the first phase of the
> project, which will install "dummy" turbines in the river and complete
> studies of the currents and environmental impacts. The dummy turbines
> should be in the river by fall, according to the latest company
> estimates.
>
> "In the meantime, we're doing more studies to check flow and fish and
> seeing what's going on there in the river," President William H.
> "Trey"
> Taylor III
> said.
>
> Rather than the company doing the environmental assessments itself,
> the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne is compiling the studies to ensure the
> turbines will not affect the river adversely.
>
> "In spite of what governments say, we're taking the approach that the
> river belongs to the Mohawks," Mr. Taylor said. "Using the Mohawk idea
> of harmonized environments, we're letting them take the lead."
>
> The tribe's Environment Department has given a green light to the
> first phase. The dummy turbines, updated versions of the ones Verdant
> is putting in the East River in New York City, will be installed to
> test the design.
>
> "We're looking now for concerns from the public, so when we're doing
> the next assessments, we know what kinds of modifications or
> mediations we can make so those concerns are addressed," said F. Henry
> Lickers, environmental science officer with the Mohawk Council.
> "There's a lot of concerns with fish and fish passage and all those
> kinds of things."
>
> The Mohawk Council gave its support to the project in 2008, with the
> understanding that the council would have a say in all environmental
> assessments.
>
> "In the past we believe that conventional hydroelectric power
> development has not respected the rights and needs of the community of
> Akwesasne," said a 2008 letter from then-Grand Chief Tim Thompson.
> "The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne is determined to see that such things
> do not occur again."
>
> The project is more than two years behind schedule.
>
> Verdant planned to have the test dummies installed by April 2008. The
> original timeline for the project had the first phase ending in 2010
> and the commercial build-out beginning shortly thereafter. Mr. Taylor
> did not say when the second phase, installing power-generating
> turbines in the river, will be completed.
>
> "Because of the economic downturn, it's like hitting a speed bump and
> then hitting our heads," Mr. Taylor said. "It's coming along. The
> funders we were planning on stopped sending money, so we kind of had
> to start over."
>
> Most of the funding for the project comes from the Canadian
> government.
> One-quarter of the money is from private investors, Mr. Taylor said.
>
> The project, when complete, will generate 15 megawatts of power, which
> will be sent to Cornwall, Ontario, and its surroundings. How many
> turbines will be necessary to create that much power depends on the
> speed of the currents and the size of the rotors, Mr. Taylor said. The
> rotors under consideration are 16 to 22 feet in diameter, he said.
>
>