Free Flow Power Corp. (FFP) applied June 25 at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a license to develop a 14.6-MW hydroelectric project at the Sardis Dam on the Little Tallahatchie River in Panola County, Miss.
The official applicant for the Sardis Lake Hydroelectric Project is FFP Missouri 2 LLC, a domestic limited-liability company for which Free Flow Power is authorized to act as an agent.
The project will utilize the existing dam owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The project will operate in a run‐of‐release mode and, as such, will not alter or adversely affect current or future USACE operations. However, by utilizing this structure, FFP will develop a new renewable energy resource for the region that will have minimal environmental effects.
FFP was issued a three-year preliminary permit for this project by FERC in December 2010.
A new concrete powerhouse will be built on the north bank, downstream of the existing stilling basin adjacent to the river channel and contain two identical turbine-generator units having a combined installed capacity of 14,600 kW. Two new identical vertical Kaplan turbines will be installed in the powerhouse. The turbines will be direct-connected to identical 3-phase, 60-cycle synchronous generators.
The project will have an installed capacity of 14.6 MW, an average annual energy production of 52 gigawatt hours (GWh) and an average monthly energy production of 4.33 GWh.
A new substation will be constructed about 350 feet south of the existing outlet works at the toe of the dam. Project output will be transmitted from the powerhouse to the new substation via a buried medium-voltage cable. A new overhead transmission line will extend southeast from the substation along Highway 315 to an interconnection point at the utility owned distribution line.
