The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 14 put out for comment a May 4 application from Energy Resources USA Inc. for a preliminary permit under which it would study the feasibility of a hydropower project located at the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Kentucky River Lock and Dam #8, located on the Kentucky River in Garrard County, Kentucky.
The sole purpose of a preliminary permit, if issued, is to grant the permit holder priority to file a license application during the three-year permit term.
The project would consist of: the existing 309-foot-long, 31-foot-high lock and dam, including an inoperable stone masonry lock; three 3.96-foot-high, 87.50-foot-long hydraulic flashboards to be installed on the crest of the 262.5-foot-long spillway; a reservoir with a surface area of 573 acres and a storage capacity of 14,020 acre-feet at a normal surface elevation of 31 feet mean sea level (msl); a 770-foot-long, 300-foot-wide intake channel with a 85-foot-long retaining wall; a 131-foot-long, 82-foot-wide powerhouse, to be built adjacent to the spillway end of the dam, containing two generating units with a total capacity of 11 MW; a 1,000-foot-long, 220-foot-wide tailrace with a 40-foot-long retaining wall; a 4.16/69 kV substation; and a three-mile-long, 69-kV transmission line. The project would have an average annual generation of 59,180 megawatt-hours.
The applicant contact is: Ander Gonzalez, Energy Resources USA Inc., 2655 Le Jeune Road, Suite 804, Coral Gables, Florida 33134, (954) 248-8425.
The deadline for filing comments, motions to intervene, competing applications (without notices of intent), or notices of intent to file competing applications is 60 days from this July 14 notice.
