New York City Gets Tidal Energy Project

Verdant Power was granted the first US license for a tidal energy project right on New York City’s doorstep, the East River. While the 1MW project is tiny compared to the over 2,000MW wind farm on the drawing board for Wyoming, it is good to see various renewable technologies being tested around the country. Localization of power sources by taking advantage of the renewable types of energy specific to a region is important as we broaden our power generation options.

The announcement on January 23rd that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a pilot commercial license for the project – the first-ever commercial license for tidal power in the United States – capped off a full decade of work. It’s been a long road for Verdant Power, as the project began in 2002 with prototype testing. The Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project is being developed in three phases: 

• Phase 1 (2002 – 2006): Prototype Testing
• Phase 2 (2006 – 2009): Demonstration
• Phase 3 (Current): MW-Scale Build-Out

Under the 10 year license, the project will have up to 30 commercial class (Generation 5) turbines under a Free Flow Kinetic Hydropower System. According to the website, “the RITE Project is a prime example of how the Free Flow System can be scaled for placement directly within a population center.” Eric’s recent piece on cities got to the heart of the debate about whether cities are truly more sustainable. If more of their power could be gathered from renewable sources like the one being tested in NYC, they may be wind up being more sustainable after all.

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