Lock+TM Hydro Friends Fund VI LLC on July 15 won 36 more months from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to look at the feasibility of a 10.8-MW hydro project in Iowa.
Hydro Friends had applied in January for another 36-month preliminary permit on the proposed Lock and Dam No. 13 Hydroelectric Project (L+D No. 13 Project or project) to be located at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi River Lock and Dam No. 13, sited on the Mississippi River near Clinton, in Clinton County, Iowa.
The proposed project would include:
- a 200-foot-long, 30-foot-deep frame module fitted with a trash rack and containing 15 hydropower turbines each having a capacity of 720 kW for a total installed capacity of 10,800 kW operating at a net head of nine feet; and
- a 69-kV transmission line conveying the generated power to the existing power grid at an existing substation on the Illinois side of the river.
The estimated annual generation of the L+D No. 13 Project would be 66,225 megawatt hours. The project would operate run-of-river and utilize the water pool behind the Corps’ dam.
Free Flow Power Iowa 2 LLC filed a competing application on Jan. 2, but withdrew its application on June 14.
Hydro Friends has previously held a preliminary permit for this site under Project No. 13424-000. The commission grants successive permits if it concludes that the applicant has diligently pursued the requirements of its prior permits in good faith. Hydro Friends provided information to commission staff demonstrating that it is currently making progress with the analysis of the project’s feasibility. If the eventual decision is to proceed with this project, the company would need to file with FERC for a hydro license.
