Historic hydro sites to be used to generate hydroelectricity in USA
Hydro Proposal Offers 'Clean' Source of Local Power in USA
The renovation of an historic hydroelectric generator in Mansfield Hollow could produce enough renewable energy to power half Mansfield's public buildings.
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Stand on the bank of the Natchaug River in Mansfield Hollow and it won’t take you long to appreciate the opportunity there. Centuries ago people saw it: Power -- free for the taking as the river makes its way toward the sea. Power enough to run a prosperous industry for decades. Those days are long gone, but now a local entrepreneur again sees the Natchaug’s potential to provide inexpensive and, more importantly, clean and renewable energy to the community. If he can only get it built.
Sam Shifrin, owner of the Kirby Mill near the base of the Mansfield Hollow Dam, says he wants to install a small hydroelectric generator on his property along the Natchaug. His low-impact, state-of-the-art equipment would replace and update a hydroelectric plant that operated there in the late 1800s.
Shifrin says his installation could produce enough power to run his mill and half of Mansfield’s government buildings.
Not only that, it would enable the town to achieve its renewable non-polluting energy goals for years to come – and cost the taxpayers less money than they are paying now. That’s if he and his wife, Michelle, can get the financing their business, Mechatronic Energy Systems LLC, needs to build the facility. … And if the town agrees to buy the power. Inspired during their renovation of the historic 129-year-old mill, the Shifins have spent seven years obtaining the federal permit they need to install their high-tech turbines and related equipment. Sam Shifrin, a mechanical engineer, designed the cutting edge hydrokinetic turbine system to take maximum advantage of the Natchaug River’s flow as it fluctuates throughout the year. He estimates the hydroelectric plant -- about the size of a three-car garage -- will cost about $2.2 million to build. Once up and running, the system would produce 500 kilowatts of electricity, annually generating 2.25 million kilowatt hours of “green” or “clean” power – enough to supply half the town’s municipal buildings, Shifrin said. The Shifrins have offered to sell their hydropower to the Town for the same price it pays for non-renewable energy; and local officials are evaluating the offer. The Town’s sustainability committee has reviewed the proposal and endorsed it. Buying the local hydropower would spare the town the expense of buying the carbon credits or “renewable energy certificates” it must obtain to meet its clean-energy goals. According to Town Manager Matthew Hart, Mansfield spends about $300,000 on electricity it gets through a consortium operated by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. The Town has made a commitment to use 20 percent renewable energy by the year 2010, and because it has not yet met that goal, currently spends about $10,000 a year buying the “renewable energy certificates” it needs to compensate, Hart said. Those certificate fees are likely to increase in the years ahead unless the town can find a source of renewable, non-polluting energy like the power the Shifrins' hydro unit offers. Shifrin’s hope is to use the Mansfield site as a model and demonstration site for the industry.The U.S. has some 80,000 dams that are not producing power, he said, offering great potential for expanding the use of small, low-impact hydroelectric generators. New England and New York have some 4,000 sites that could be used for generating hydroelectric power, he said.
His plan locally is to rebuild and reopen an historic “headgate” a few hundred yards from the base of the massive Mansfield Hollow Dam. It was originally put there in the 1800s to power the mill, but was eventually abandoned and filled in by the state. The headgate is adjacent to a man-made dam created in the early 1700s. The renovated headgate, once reopened, will divert some of the river’s flow into an engineered waterway or “head race” that will guide the water to a hydroelectric generator of Shifrin’s design. The energy its five turbines produced would be metered and returned to the state’s power grid over the existing lines. The system is capable of generating power even during low-flow periods when most generators have to shut down, he said. The water taken into the hydro unit would be returned to the river through a "tail race" a few hundred yards downstream. Hart said he wants to be sure that the grid's “virtual metering system” works properly so the town can get full credit for buying the clean power. More importantly, he said, he also wants to be sure that buying power locally will not have a negative impact on the town’s participation in the CCM energy consortium. He expects to bring the matter back before the Town Council in January, he said. The Shifrins have already obtained the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s license they need to build the system and could start construction right away … if they had the money. “The construction plans, design, engineering … they are all done,” Shifrin said. But over the seven-year permitting process, Shifrin said, the project costs have grown. As a result, his company needs to find the financing before moving ahead. Cementing a power purchase agreement with the town, Hart said, would help the Shifrins leverage the capital they need to proceed. The Shifrins could, of course, sell the power to anyone who wants or needs renewable energy, including the power company itself; but “we would prefer Mansfield purchase the power,” Shifrin said. The company wants to make the operation available as an educational tool as well as simply a source of local renewable energy, he said. Earlier this year the Shifrins were exploring a way to finance the project using zero-interest “qualified energy conservation bonds” available to the town through the Connecticut Development Authority. The Shirfrins offered the town a 20-year lease on the property and federal license, hoping Mansfield could use the bonds to build the hydro plant. The project would eventually pay for itself in the form of inexpensive power, Shifrin said. Five new turbines would be part of the deal. Hart, however, said he is concerned that the additional risk, liabilities, management issues and expense might outweigh the benefits of that approach. Getting approval to install a hydroelectric generator on a public waterway is a long and laborious process. Shifrin said he originally planned to simply restore the mill’s original hydro unit with something adequate to power his business at the mill. When he learned that the permitting process was equally complex for five or 500 kilowatts, he decided to expand his plan. FERC has a long set of requirements that include meeting federal and state environmental demands. The Mansfield project has undergone a number of environmental studies, Shifrin said, and projections are that by reducing and slowing some of the river volume when it is running at its fastest, his project will actually improve the fish habitat in that part of the Natchaug. At its fastest in the spring, the Natchaug flows at about 1,000 cubic feet per second, Shifrin said. His system will run at maximum output on 450 cfs, and could operate when the river goes as low as 30 cubic feet per second, he said. His permit, however, requires that at least 20 cfs flow freely down the riverbed to protect the habitat. The generators are likely to be operational every month but August. The “trash rack” at the head gate of Shifrin’s system is designed to screen out any fish that is too large to pass safely through the turbine. It also limits the speed of the water into the race so fish can escape its pull. As part of the permitting process, Shifrin also agreed to trap fingerling eels twice a year and drive them upstream where, ironically, they currently do not exist, he said. Eight years after that process begins, he said, he will again have to modify the equipment so that the turbine does not harm the mature eels. Historic hydro sites to be used to generate hydroelectricity in USA
Historic hydro sites to be used to generate hydroelectricity in USA
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