
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on July 15 went out for comment on a June 27 application from Lock+ Hydro Friends Fund IV LLC for a preliminary permit under which the company would study the feasibility of the Mississippi River Lock and Dam 26 Project.
It would be located at the existing Mississippi River Lock and Dam No. 26 on the Mississippi River, near the City of West Alston, in St. Charles County, Missouri and the City of Alton, in Madison County, Illinois. The Mississippi River Lock and Dam No. 26 is owned by the federal government and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The project would consist of: a new 750-foot-long by 22-foot-wide by 66-foot-high steel frame modular hydropower system containing fifty 1.5-MW hydropower turbines for a total combined generating capacity of 75 MW; a new 550-foot-long by 750-foot-wide tailrace; a new 50-foot by 100-foot switchyard; and a new 5.2-mile-long, 69-kV or 115-kV transmission line. The project would have an estimated annual generation of 427,050 megawatthours.
The applicant contact is: Wayne F. Krouse, PO Box 43796, Birmingham, AL 35243; telephone (877) 556-6566, extension 709.
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 the issuance of this July 15 notice.
The preliminary permit would grant the company three years of exclusivity to study project feasibility.