LIHI Pending Application [ON HOLD} - – Twin Cities Hydroelectric Project, Mississippi River, Minnesota (FERC #362)
Portland, Maine (November 30, 2008) – The Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) announced today that the Brookfield Renewable Power ("Brookfield" or Applicant) has submitted an application for certification of the Twin Cities Hydroelectric Project (formally called the Ford Plant and before that called the Twin Cities Project) which is located on the St. Paul side of the Mississippi River, at the eastern end of the Corps' Lock and Dam No.1. The dam, located at river mile 847.6, consists of twin lock chambers at the western end and a 574-foot concrete spillway in the center. The dam is owned, operated, and maintained by the Corps and is not part of the project works.
The original license for the Ford Project was issued to the Ford Motor Company on June 7, 1923, for a period expiring on June 6, 1973. A new license for the project, issued on July 2, 1980, expired on June 6, 2003. Prior to its acquisition by Brookfield, Ford operated the project under an annual license pending the disposition of its application for new license.
In response to a public notice issued September 13, 2001, accepting the application and inviting comments and motions to intervene, Friends of the Mississippi River, Mississippi
Whitewater Park Development Corporation, and the U.S.Department of the Interior (Interior) filed motions to intervene. None of the intervenors oppose issuance of a new license. Because the motions were timely and unopposed, they were automatically granted under Commission's regulations.
Subsequently, on December 24, 2003, FERC issued a notice indicating that the project was ready for environmental analysis and soliciting comments, recommendations, terms and
conditions, and prescriptions. Comments and recommendations were filed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (Minnesota DNR) and Interior.
On September 16, 2004, the FERC issued for public comment an environmental assessment (EA). The EA recommended that the project be licensed with certain additional measures. The EA found that licensing the project, as recommended, would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Comments on the EA were due October 15, 2004.
In November 2004, the FERC issued a major license for the continued operation of the Twin Cities Project No.362. The project is located on the Mississippi River, a navigable waterway of the United States, in the city of St. Paul in Ramsey County, Minnesota. The project has a total capacity of 17.92 megawatts (MW), generates about 97,132 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity annually.
The constructed project facilities consist of:
(1) a 156- foot-long by 112-foot-wide powerhouse integral with the Corps' dam, containing four 5,800-hp Francis turbines and four 4,480-kW generating units with a total installed capacity of 17,920 kW; and,
(2) a two-foot-high inflatable rubber flashboard system on top of a 574-foot-long concrete spillway dam with a crest elevation of 723.1 feet mean sea level (msl).
Brookfield operates the project in a run-of-river mode. Brookfield proposes no new construction or capacity at the project.
PROJECT SUMMARY
· Facility location: Mississippi River, at the eastern end of the Corps' Lock and Dam No.1.
· Installed capacity: 17.92 MW
· Average annual generation: 104 gigawatt hours
· Year FERC license issued: November 18, 2004
· Applicant: Brookfield Renewable Power
· Applicant contact: David Bamhart, General Manager
· Date application will be posted to website: November 30, 2008
· Date public comment period on application closes: January 30, 2009
The project is located within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA), a unit of the National Park System, but does not occupy or affect any lands or portion of the waterway included in (or designated for potential inclusion) as a component of the national wild and scenic river system. The project uses a federal dam and occupies 11.2 acres of federal lands owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The run-of-river hydroelectric facility is operated in close cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
PUBLIC COMMENT
We encourage public comments on this application. Specifically, we are interested in knowing whether you think the Twin Cities Project meets our LIHI criteria. Review the program and criteria in greater detail and then review the Twin Cities Project application. Comments that are directly tied to specific LIHI criteria (flows, water quality, fish passage, etc) will be most helpful, but all comments will be considered.
Comments may be submitted to the Institute by e-mail (preferred) at info@lowimpacthydro.org with " Twin Cities Project comments" in the subject line; by fax at (206) – 984-3086; or by mail addressed to LIHI, 34 Providence Street, Portland, ME, 04103. Comments must be received at the Institute on or before 5 pm Eastern time on Janauary 30, 2009 to be considered. All comments will be posted to the web site and the applicant will have an opportunity to respond. Any response will also be posted.
For further information about the Twin Cities Project, or any projects certified as Low Impact, please contact Fred Ayer, LIHI Executive Director at (207) 773-8190, or visit the LIHI website at www.lowimpacthydro.org. LIHI is a nonprofit organization that certifies environmentally low impact hydropower facilities nationwide to help energy consumers, and to support market incentives for reducing the effects of hydropower dams on the nation's rivers and streams.
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Files
Twin Cities FERC Exhibit F Drawings.pdf TCHP FERC License.txt TCHP FERC License.txt
Twin Cities - LIHI Application - final for submission.xls