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BUFFALO, N.Y. — A unique underwater turbine power generation project is now proposed for the Niagara River in Buffalo by a company based in Maine.
But some residents here in Western New York are raising questions about the impact on the river and its wildlife.
2 On Your Side spoke with the company behind it and a local group which may seek to see it placed somewhere else.
A U.S. Department of Energy video depicts installation in a stream in Maine last year of the underwater turbine power generators which may look to some like the old push lawnmower reels. This device uses what the Ocean Renewable Energy Company calls tipped foils which rotate with the water flow to create power,
Nathan Johnson is the Vice President of Development for ORPC, as it is known, and he explains, "There's two turbines that are put together and those turbines - the foils are shaped like airplane wings and they create lift. And the movement of the water rotates the turbines - rotates a shaft which is connected with a generator. The generator produces electricity and then we send that to shore."
So, ORPC is seeking a permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to install these units as a demonstration project under the surface of the Niagara River with its fast current between the Peace Bridge and Unity Island. Company engineers feel it can withstand winter icing with the ice boom and keep moving the foils underwater in the winter. That is based on their experience in an Alaska river and placement of the devices in other waterways in Maine, Canada, and Chile.
Johnson says, "Our turbines are completely underwater so you don't see them. We take into account existing vessels."
But there is the habitat question with a little guy known as the the Emerald Shiner. It is a feeder fish for the bigger Muskies and other fish out in the lake. Even a one million dollar habitat project with specially built baffles to calm the river waters near Unity Island's north shore was recently built for the small fish.
The environmental concerns for the fish and birds come from some sport anglers, environmentalists, and other residents like Anne K.C. McCooey who is the Executive Director of the Black Rock Riverside Alliance. She says, "They've picked a fairly shallow area of the river to put these turbines in."
Referring to the Emerald Shiners, she says, "This is their migratory path to the lake. They are an incredible source of food for many of the fish that live in the river but also for the birds that fly along here."
Johnson of ORPC points out, "We've done significant environmental monitoring both in the tidal and the river environments."
He referenced their project on the river in Alaska in which salmon run in the waters. "The small, juvenile salmon which are called smolt - there's been hundreds of millions of smolts - and to date we have not seen evidence of injury or mortality. And we have video cameras on the device."
But McCooey says about the Alaska project "You'll see that it's a much different scale than our Niagara River. Our Niagara River is not nearly as wide as the one they put it in. And again - it's not that we are against this technology. We see that there are a lot of benefits to this technology in the future. It's the location - where they want to put it."
Johnson says they have reached out to the Mayor's Office, Buffalo Sewer Authority, and Invest Buffalo Niagara to discuss the project and possible uses for the power to be generated. The Northland Training Center is also mentioned as a potential training site for workers to build the devices.
A spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo Division says they have been contacted about the application process for a demonstration project and there have been some discussions. We also reached out to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for comment but have not heard back as yet.
There is a space for public comment open through part of June on the ORPC plan at the website of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
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