Tidal Turbines Power Up
Verdant Power to install Tidal Turbine in Canada
The debut of efficient renewable energy is no simple feat, and laboratories around the globe are littered with efforts that didn't quite make the grade. One technology that seems to hold promise is tidal turbine technology, where by normal tidal flows are used to generate clean, green energy, efficiently. A green energy project using innovative water turbines will generate renewable power from the current of the St Lawrence River. "Water is a proven resource for generating power," said Verdant Power Co-founder and President Trey Taylor. "But we are going to demonstrate a gamechanging power source - simply by using underwater currents without dams." The Ontario Government-funded project, located near Cornwall, which is designed to turn the river's current into 15 MW of clean energy, enough to power 11,000 average-sized homes. "Here's a great example of how innovative solutions to long-term challenges like securing a renewable energy supply are being developed right here in Ontario. With this project we are demonstrating a clean, viable alternative source of energy - one that not only works in Ontario, but one we can export around the world," said John Wilkinson, Minister of Research and Innovation. 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 expanding up to 15 MW of installed capacity. The turbine looks like an underwater windmill. Installed on the floor of the river, the turbine taps into the power of the river's current to generate clean electricity.
A Verdant Tidal Turbine system being installed in New York City's East River.
(Photographer: Kris Unger; Source: Verdant Power, Inc.)
42 MTR
June 2008
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