Weekend Edition, November 21/22, 2020 – POWER FROM THE EAST RIVER

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WEEKEND EDITION

NOVEMEBER 21 -22, 2020

216th Edition

TIDAL ENERGY

AND

ROOSEVELT ISLAND

STEPHEN BLANK

THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE 

OCTOBER 23, 2020

On Thursday, renewable energy company Verdant Power installed an array of three tidal power turbines off Roosevelt Island in New York City’s East River.

Verdant’s Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) site is the first U.S.-licensed tidal power project, and it is a pre-commercial testbed for the company’s fifth generation of turbine arrays. Its first version began operation in 2013, and the latest features heavy-duty marinized components. The three-turbine, steel-frame design is intended for scalability to larger sizes for deployment in deeper, faster-moving waters. It is also intended for economical installation: with one hoistable frame holding three five-meter turbines, the amount of on-the-water work per turbine is reduced, according to Verdant Power CEO John T. Banigan.

RITE is grid-connected, and its operation will give the New York-based company more experience and data on system performance. After six months, the frame will be lifted out of the water and one of the three turbines will be removed for inspection. The full test is scheduled to last for one year, and if all is satisfactory, Verdant hopes to scale up to a 10-meter diameter turbine for commercial sale. 

“We are proud to be the first licensed tidal power project in the U.S,” said Banigan. “Today we are demonstrating clean power from the tidal currents and that tidal power is a viable energy resource advancing our industry in the U.S. and globally.”

RITE will operate under a pilot project license from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) – according to Verdant, the first commercial license for a tidal power project in America. The project will provide electricity to Roosevelt Island through a connection to Con Edison’s local grid. It is underwritten by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the U.S. Department of Energy, along with New York-based private equity investor

Tidal Energy and Roosevelt Island

The Roosevelt Islander recently carried an interesting article on Verdant Power’s Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project.

This note provides additional background on the project.

To begin, we’re talking about the white things you see sticking out of the East Channel of the East River just off the Parking Garage, north of the RI Bridge. These are the tops of turbines fixed to the bottom of the river. The East River, as many know, is not a river. It is a salt water tidal estuary connecting Long Island Sound with the Atlantic Ocean in New York Harbor. And as you probably have observed, this is a very active stretch of water. From the junction just north of Roosevelt Island where the Sound turns south (and becomes the East River) and where the Harlem River (also not a river!) joins in, it is narrow, deep (that’s why we go down so far when we take the F train) and often turbulent. The junction where all three combine has long been known as “Hell Gate” – not because of the violence of the water but from the Dutch Hellegat meaning either “bright strait” or “clear opening”. This was a particularly treacherous stretch of water. Tides from the Long Island Sound, New York Harbor and the Harlem River meet there, making it difficult to navigate, especially because of the number of rocky islets which once dotted it, roughly 12 islets and reefs in all, all of which led to a number of shipwrecks, including HMS Hussar, a British frigate that sank in 1780 while supposedly carrying gold and silver intended to pay British troops. In the 1870s, Hell Gate was cleared of rocks and widened. (The story of how many of these islands were blown up to make the waterway easier is another good story, carried in an article in The Wire, August 7, 2007)
Even more, and still today, because the tide tables of the Sound and the Harbor differ, the East River changes direction several times a day, and the incoming tide rushes north or south in a great flurry of currents. (From Lighthouse Park, you can see the power of this movement as the water swirls in a huge whirlpool.) Because the East River is so narrow and so deep, an enormous amount of water moves at high intensity.
That’s the energy the RITE project seek to capture: The project generates clean Hydrokinetic energy from the natural East River’s tidal flow – that is energy generated by the movement of a body of water. Tidal stream generators (think underwater flat windmills) make use of the kinetic energy of moving water to power turbines, in a similar way to wind turbines that use the kinetic energy of wind to power turbines. These, however, are entirely submersed, thus avoiding concerns over the impact on the natural landscape.
Tidal energy is one of the oldest forms of energy used by humans. Indeed, tide mills, in use on the Spanish, French and British coasts, date back to the 8th century. Tide mills consisted of a storage pond, filled by the incoming (flood) tide through a sluice and emptied during the outgoing (ebb) tide through a water wheel. The tides turned waterwheels, producing mechanical power to mill grain. We even have one remaining in New York – which worked well into the 20th century.
Tidal power is non-polluting, reliable and predictable. Tidal barrages, undersea tidal turbines and machines harnessing undersea currents are under development. Unlike wind and waves, tidal currents are entirely predictable.
In February 2012 the federal government announced an agreement with Verdant to install 30 tidal turbines in the channel of the East River. The turbines were projected to begin operations in 2015 and are supposed to produce 1.05 megawatts of power. The RITE Project would be the first commercially-licensed tidal power plant in the United States. Phase One, installed now, is an array of three Gen5 Free Flow System turbines on a TriFrame™ mount, generating 105 kW of power for delivery to the New York City grid. That is, three turbines, each with its blades, are set on a single frame on the bottom of the River. Free Flow means that turbines generate electricity no matter which way the river is flowing. The idea is that the installation will demonstrate the advanced Gen5 system and allow for analysis of the TriFrame™ as a cost-effective solution for the installation, operations, and maintenance of tidal energy systems. Funding support is being provided by the US Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office and the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA). This isn’t the first time Verdant has tried to extract power from the East River. Some 15 years ago, it announced plans to install hundreds of turbines in the East River to harness tidal energy and generate zero-emission electrical power. In December 2006, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg formally dedicated the opening of the project as six turbines were placed in the river (capable of supplying 1,000 daily kilowatt hours of power and serving the then Gristedes market). Just several weeks later, the project was halted because of the massive amount of energy they were dealing with – that is, the strength of the river flow. Currents proved so strong that the turbine propellers were sheared off, and stronger replacements were hampered by insufficiently strong bolt connections to the turbine hubs. The first round of turbines were temporarily removed.

What is Verdant? It’s a young and highly focused company. Its website tells us that the company was founded in 2000, and that its “mission is to help build sustainable communities through a holistic approach focused on clean energy generation as well as advancing partnerships and hybrid platforms to make significant impacts at the water-energy nexus.” It is privately held with around 20 employees. Verdant Power “develops technologies and projects that generate village- and utility-scale energy from the free-flowing currents of tides, rivers, and canals, referred to as ‘marine’ or ‘marine & hydrokinetic (MHK)’ energy.  Marine energy systems are next-generation clean energy technologies that can provide electricity in a predictable manner for populations near water currents.”  The website mentions other projects, but its RITE project is certainly the most important. At one point, KeySpan was said to be partnering with Verdant Power in its East River project but there is no evidence that Verdant has any current business partners.
​The company seems to be a true trailblazer. In 2005, when it first sought permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to test turbines off Roosevelt Island, there were no U.S. regulatory processes for this type of marine energy technology. Eventually, Verdant received FERC approval for the world’s first demonstration of tidal turbines and the company began to gather data to apply for a larger system and commercial permit at the same site. In 2012, Verdant received the country’s first commercial license for a tidal power project, to install up to one megawatt of power off Roosevelt Island. And this summer, this next phase of the RITE project was set in motion.
Verdant’s position in the evolving maritime energy industry is important. Most others in the field focus on ocean energy and as such are extremely large, with much greater generating capacity. But to do this, they must operate in deep waters, far offshore, requiring long transmission lines and highly specialized installation equipment and supporting infrastructure. Verdant’s primary differentiating factor is that it’s specifically designed for shallow waters and its unique design is scalable for locations around the world.
In addition to the current, the project faced several other issues. One has been the impact on fish in the river. Here, the company is clear that its studies have shown that fish are careful to avoid the rotors – which do not spin at speed like airplane engine propellers. Another issue, is competition. Tony DePalma, writing in the NYTimes, said that Verdant was facing the prospect of competition — not so much from giants like KeySpan but from other alternative energy start-ups. One company, Oceana Energy, had been granted a federal permit to install turbines in the East River just north of Roosevelt Island. There seem to have been some exchange between the companies, but nothing more has appeared. The most serious recent problem has been, of course, coronavirus which has slowed down current plans.
In all, good for us. Roosevelt Island remains in the center of the search for clean energy.
Stephen Blank
RIHS
November 1, 2020

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