Officials inspect hydroelectric sites
September 19, 2008
By Edward
Husar
Local, state and federal officials are getting
a chance this week to scrutinize and express concerns about
Nearly two dozen officials took a tour Thursday
of the proposed hydroelectric sites at Lock and Dam 20 in
For example, Janet Sternburg,
a policy coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation, toured all three
lock and dam locations to get a better handle on how the power-generating
turbines might impact fish moving downstream from one river pool to the next.
“Our main concern is what is
it going to do to the fish,” Sternburg said. “How
are they going to go through the turbines? What will be the mortality?”
Kim Hansen, project engineer with the Mead
& Hunt engineering firm of Madison, Wis., said the European made turbines being
considered for the project are specifically designed to have a minimal impact
on migrating fish — unlike traditional hydropower turbines that often produce greater
fish kills.
Hansen said the newer “fish friendly” turbines
operate at a “very, very slow velocity” and have smaller runner openings so
there’s less chance fish could die or get injured if they come in contact with
the machinery. Hansen said European studies were conducted in which fish and
eels were injected into the runners of a moving turbine.
“The mortality that they documented is
significantly lower than any other turbine,” he said.
Sternburg said the Missouri DOC
will want to see more details about that study to make sure it’s applicable to fish
living in the
“We may have different fish species here than
the ones they tested,” she said.
In addition, Sternburg’s office is participating with the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers in developing a “fish ladder” to be installed at the Saverton lock and dam as an experiment to see if similar
fish passages should be placed at other river locations. Sternburg
said she wants to make sure the hydroelectric project at Saverton
would be compatible with the fish ladder. Sternburg
said her agency will want more answers to its questions before it signs off on the
hydropower plans.
“We will propose, as
they develop the study, that we would like to have these things looked at and
evaluated to help determine what those impacts are to fish life and fish
passage in the area,” she said. Mike Klingner of Klingner & Associates of
“They have to feel
comfortable that we’re doing everything that we can to minimize any damage,” he
said. This week’s tour and public meeting were required by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission as part of its review of
Plans call for
installing 40 500-kilowatt generators at Canton — enough to produce 20
megawatts of power — and 30 generators each at Quincy and Saverton,
which would enable each site to produce up to 15 megawatts.
Combined, the three
projects would be able to produce up to 50 megawatts at maximum capacity.
However, since hydro plants don’t always operate at maximum because of fluctuations
in water levels, the three sites are expected to produce an average power
output of 19 megawatts. That’s equivalent to the amount of electricity consumed
by 16,000 residential households. The project is expected to cost around $200
million — most likely to be funded with revenue bonds financed by the sale of
electricity.
“This can more than pay
for itself and bring additional money into the city’s
coffers,” Spring said.
Spring said this would
benefit everybody in
If everything goes as planned,
the hydropower facilities could be operational by late 2015 or early 2016.