The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Aug. 16 issued a preliminary permit to the FFP Project 132 LLC affiliate of Free Flow Power for a 16.5-MW hydro project in Pennsylvania.
A preliminary permit grants a three-year, exclusive right to explore project feasibility, with a license application needed if the decision is to pursue the project further.
On May 20, FFP Project 132 filed an application for a preliminary permit to study the feasibility of the Allegheny Lock and Dam #7 Hydroelectric Project No. 14522, to be located at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Allegheny River Lock and Dam #7 on the Allegheny River in Armstrong County, Pa.
The proposed project would consist of: a new forebay 160 feet wide by 160 feet long; a new powerhouse 160 feet wide by 125 feet long; a new tailrace 160 feet wide by 200 feet long; new concrete retaining walls upstream of the dam spillway and downstream of the new powerhouse; three horizontal bulb turbine-generators each rated at 5.5 MW; a 50-megavolt-ampere, 4.16-kilovolt (kV)/69-kV three-phase step-up transformer; a new substation 40 feet wide by 40 feet long; and a new 69-kV transmission line approximately 2.3 miles long from the new substation to an existing substation.
The estimated annual generation of the Allegheny #7 Project would be 89 gigawatt-hours.
