CORE Project Team
City of Cornwall Mohawk Council of Akwesasne St. Lawrence College St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences · The Thompson Rosemount Group · Water and Earth Science Associates · · · ·
The turbine blades rotate slowly, designed to allow fish to pass through safely with minimal environmental impact. Burlington-based Verdant Power Canada will install its Free Flow Turbine technology to test the feasibility of using it on a larger scale. Ontario is investing $2.2 million in this project under the Innovation Demonstration Fund, which supports promising bio-based, environmental and alternative energy technologies. This project is a follow up to a Verdant installation of tidal turbines in NYC's East River last year, a nearly $7m project funded in part -- to $2.5m -- by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority The first phase started in 2006 where two turbines were placed in the River 10 meters deep in New York's East River, positioned between Queens and Manhattan. The first turbine produces energy and the second turbine monitors the effects on the environment of the first turbine and collects data by using 24 hydroacoustic transducers and one DIDSON system. On average, the first turbine was able to deliver almost 30 kW of power a day enough to power a local parking
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garage and grocery store. Since phase one proved to be successful in providing energy and minimum to no effects were seen in the underwater environment, the second phase was launched in April 2007. In the second phase, four more turbines were added for a total of five turbines, each generating and delivering 35 kW of energy to New York City a day. All five turbines stand at 19.7 ft high and are 15.8 ft in length with three blade rotors that are axial-flow with a diameter of 16.4 ft. To increase the revolution, the gearbox is used to enhance its speed and drives an induction generator, creating about 1,000 kWh per day. The energy process works because the flow of water from the tides in the River move the blades, which start to turn at 30-32 rpm for an average of 18 hours a day. New York's East River was chosen to host the tidal turbine project because of its proximity to New York City and fast currents that would create minimal effects to the underwater environment. Verdant picked New York as its first major project in the United States to set an example for the rest of the world.
Marine Technology Reporter 43
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