According to Trey Taylor President of Verdant Power Canada UIC, their technology requires that the depth of the water source be at least 120 feet deep and a current of 2 meters per second to turn their turbines which can generate consistently between 58 - 68 kilowatts each. They would like to develop underwater generating fields of turbines if the right locations could be found. The beauty of the technology that they are developing is their generators are in groups of three. Making it easy to remove and service each group as required. Each group when developed can be lowered into the water source without having to provide an underwater platform to secure them. And each group can be safely and economically raised for servicing at any time.
Because there are concerns about environmental impact on the river, studies concerning the impact of the turbines on the fish stock will be carried out. In an interview with Dr. John Casselman PhD Adjunct Professor of Queen's University, Department of Biology who wrote; " I know of these in-river turbines but really don’t know much about their effects on fish. Obviously, they would not have the same direct effects as the turbines at Moses-Saunders because they do not entrain all of the water going down the St. Lawrence River and physical damage would seem less likely. But there is now increasing concern about the effects of electromagnetic fields created by hydro lines and hydroelectric generators. Also, turbines actually create vibrations, which in the case of Moses-Saunders, are considerable and can be sensed at great distances. So I don’t see why there wouldn’t be some vibrations given off by these, which could affect fish behavior, movement, distribution, and abundance. The electromagnetic fields are even more critical, I think, and I’m not sure they have been adequately studied. For example, a migratory species like the American eel must be very sensitive to these. Whether it would affect their migration, I don’t know. But unfortunately, little or no concern is being given to fish and fisheries in the headlong pursuit to acquire hydroelectric power quickly, which is being incorrectly touted as green power. A number of groups are now talking about blue power, where fish are taken into consideration."
Verdant Power is a company that is investigating a new technology for the Cornwall area that utilizes underwater turbines as an alternative source of hydro-electric power. The River Institute is involved in this initiative as environmental advisors, with particular interest in how the project will affect fish habitat. In 2008, Dr. Brian Hickey of the St Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Studies ( http://www.riverinstitute.com/index.html ) worked on identifying the affected fish species and mapping habitats in the proposed area. |
There is also concern with whether or not debris in the current stream would harm the turbines. Trey Taylor said that because of the depth that the turbines were installed that debris would easily pass over the turbine field and that if they were placed in the shipping lanes the undercurrent turbulence is expected to be minimal as the turbines would be under the ships by about at least 100 feet.
During the early development stages it was found that , the shape, size and material used in the propeller blades were critical and they tended to break. For Verdant, these problems have been solved through a successful testing program of their turbines that have been placed in the East River near New York City.
The timeline for development in Eastern
Ontario for the project is as follows:
The CORE Project will operate along the
following timeline:
• Phase 1 (2007 - 2010): Pilot demonstration
of the Free Flow system in a river setting;
• Phase 2 (2010 - 2012): Commercial
build-out of the project, potentially
Specifically, they will be dropping a dummy generator into the river near Cornwall in September 2009 to determine some of the environmental impact on the river and fish. After that study is completed demonstration turbines will be placed in the river which will be generating electricity. (To see a diagram of the Verdant Turbine that is in the East River in .pdf format Click Here )
From there, who knows - maybe a generating field under the shipping lane in the St Lawrence just west of Brockville Ontario at Fernbank where the water current is running at 2.2 meters per second and the depth there is 120 feet according to Brockville diver Deb Ring.
Verdant Power has promised to keep tdc's FarmGate in the news loop and we will be adding more information as this story develops.
Please e-Mail your comments about this article.
Links:
Atlantis picked to test turbine
U.K. company, partners selected for Minas
Basin project
Turbines to be placed on riverbed
Turbine project moves forward
Cornwall: Underwater windmills to be powered
by St. Lawrence River
Turbines May Carpet More Of East River Floor
It Came From the Sea--Renewable Energy, That
Is
New water turbine to generate electricity
from tides on commercial scale