OLD MAN RIVER MAKING NEW ENERGY

There is a lot of excitement along the Muddy Mississippi and the Rolling Ohio about hydroelectric power.

The enormous New Energy potential of all that flowing power, along with a new generation of turbines and a renewed inclination to permit dams, has the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers scrambling to keep up with the preparatory and maintenance work.

Jeff Hawk, Pittsburgh district spokesman, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: "Some of these applications have been around for decades, but there's renewed interest now…We've seen a spurt of applications; we're busier now than ever."

There are still concerns about daming the waterways.

Janet Sternberg, policy coordinator, Missouri Department of Conservation: "People saw the Mississippi as an opportunity — here's a big river with a lot of free-flowing water…Is this a good place to install this type of energy?"

Free Flow Power Corp. is one of the most active players in Mississippi River hydroelectric development but it is planning on using hydrokinetic (current) energy technology, in the form of small turbines placed in the river’s bed, instead of dams. After looking at 10s of thousands of sites, Free Flow Power obtained Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permits on 55 and is studying them in detail. The company welcomes questions about its plans.

Dan Irvin, CEO/former investment banker, Free Flow Power: "It's elegant, it's simple…We have no objection to the careful scrutiny and scientific question…we're pretty comfortable that what we're proposing is going to be completely benign to fish."

Those who live along the river are less concerned with current energy’s effects on fish and more with New Energy’s effects on their utility bills.

Hamilton, Ohio, is building its 3rd hydroelectric dam and pays the lowest power rates in the state.

Mayor John Spring of Quincy, Ill., on the eastern bank of the Mighty Mississip’, has obtained a FERC permit and City Council approval for a $200 million, 55-megawatt dam. It’s a big stretch for a town with a total budget of $30 million but Spring believes it is important.

Mayor Spring: "We'd like to make this part of our state the poster child for hydroelectricity in our country…Normally, you'd never see an entity this size take on such a gigantic project. But I think it's the future, and it's the right thing to do."

More and more people are saying things like that about New Energy. And finding the money to walk their talk.

A 6-generator Free Flow configuration for planting on a river bottom. (click to enlarge)

Mandates driving surge to the river for hydropower
Terry Kinney and Jim Suhr, December 1, 2008 (AP)

WHO
American Municipal Power-Ohio; Free Flow Power Corp.; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC); U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; National Hydropower Association (Linda Church Ciocci, executive director)

WHAT
A new emphasis on developing New Energy sources is driving investment and innovation in hydrokinetic energy generators, especially current and tide devices.

The basic generator. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
- Hydroelectric technology is the oldest and most widely developed source of large-scale non-finite energy.
- New technologies and new refinements in older technologies are keeping the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers busier than ever.
- There are now 6 dams on the Ohio River producing 300 megawatts. 4 more that will double the total capacity are planned to be producing by 2013.
- Permits from FERC give Free Flow Power Corp. first rights at its 55 Mississippi River sites and 3 years to do EI and other studies.

WHERE
- The devices described are in use or being designed for U.S. rivers, including the Mississippi and Ohio.
- American Municipal Power-Ohio supplies systems in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Michigan.
- A 134-megawatt hydroelectric project has operated since 1913 on the Mississippi River at Keokuk, Iowa.

WHY
- Hydrokinetic energy, in the form of hydroelectric power, is the biggest U.S. source of New Energy-generated electricity.
- The principle: Moving water spins turbine blades, driving a generator. A fall of less than 30 feet is sufficient.
- The new generation of hydroelectric technology is designed to minimize environmental impacts.
- The financial crisis is not slowing hydrokinetic development.
- American Municipal Power-Ohio is a nonprofit wholesale power supplier for 123 municipal systems It owns 1 hydro plant on the Ohio River and is developing 5 more.
Example: Hamilton, Ohio, owns 2 hydro plants on the Ohio River and is building a 3rd. It will spend $450 million over 40 years but it has the lowest electric rates in the state (9.7 cents/kwH) and aims to be 100% hydroelectric.
- Washinton state is 70% hydroelectric and has a 2 cents/kwH lower rate.
- Free Flow Power Corp. is studying 55 Mississippi River sites below St. Louis that would cumulatively produce (at a $3 billion cost) 1,600 megawatts, replacing 3 coal (or 1-to-2 nuclear) plants.
- The Free Flow Power technology is multiple submerged turbines w/durable (carbon fiiber?) 2-foot diameter blades impervious to river debris and below barge traffic.

The Free Flow generators can also be fixed to bridge supports. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Dan Irvin, CEO/former investment banker, Free Flow Power: "One thing that is certain is that this [credit crunch] will pass…If you were financing any energy project at the moment, you'd have your hands full. But we're looking out far enough, and we carry conservative enough assumptions, that we feel very comfortable."
- Linda Church Ciocci, executive director, National Hydropower Association: "The cost is in construction. Once the project's built, that's it…There's no fuel cost associated with hydropower."