LIHI Receives Low Impact Certification Application for the Open Square Project on the Holyoke Canals, MA

The following description of the Open Square project has been provided to LIHI by the applicant.  LIHI is reproducing it below without any representation as to its accuracy or completeness. 

LIHI Receives Low Impact Certification Application for the Open Square Project on the Holyoke Canals, Massachusetts

Portland, Maine (December 5, 2011) – The Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) announced today that Open Square Properties LLC (“OSP”) has submitted an Application for LIHI Certification for the Open Square Hydroelectric Project  (“Project”). The project is located on the Connecticut River and the Holyoke Canal System (a man-made structure constructed for the purpose of power generation). It consists of three levels, referred to as First, Second, and Third Level Canals. 

The system is tiered with the first canal at the highest elevation and each subsequent canal at a lower elevation. A series of subsurface sluiceways extend between each of the canals. Many of the sluiceways contain rotating turbines that generate power. The sluiceways and canals are not considered to be navigable waterways under the Clean Water Act.

There are a total of twenty hydroelectric generating stations currently in service on the Holyoke Canal System including two owned by Open Square and seventeen that are owned and operated by HG&E [Holyoke Gas & Electric, a department of the City of Holyoke]. The canal system begins with the canal gatehouse structure located between the Hadley Falls Station and the western shore.

The dam and canal system were conceived and constructed as one system by the South Hadley Falls Company starting in 1847 and 1848. The purpose was to harness the power of the falls by holding and diverting the water of the Connecticut River to mills for mechanical power for manufacturing.