The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved by a 5-0 vote the licensing and installation of
the nation’s first ever, commercially-operational hydrokinetic power station.
Houston, Texas-based Hydro Green Energy, LLC will design and install the power station on the Mississippi River, near the City of Hastings, Minnesota.
Hydrokinetic power refers to the generation of electricity from moving water without impoundments or diversionary
structures that are typically used at conventional hydropower facilities. Hydro Green Energy’s technology operates in
open rivers, tidal areas and oceans. Its patented technology, which is the first
surface-suspended system in the industry, is also deployable downstream from existing hydropower facilities (known as
Hydro+™), which allows for new, environmentally-friendly power generation within the existing project footprint.
The City of Hastings is commissioning a Hydro+ project at its 4.4-megawatt (MW) run-of-river hydropower plant on the Army
Corps of Engineers’ Lock & Dam No. 2. The power generated by the two hydrokinetic units, which each hold a
nameplate capacity of 100 kW, will be placed on the electric power grid through Hastings’ existing electrical
infrastructure.
One turbine will be installed in December and one in April 2009.
Once the project is operational, extensive water quality, fish survival and avian studies will be performed by Hydro
Green Energy.
Hydro Green Energy closed its $2.6 million Series-A funding round in April, which was led by the Quercus Trust. Hydro Green Energy is presently
negotiating its Series-B funding, which the company expects to soon close.
Series-B funding will be dedicated to growing the company, advancing Hydro Green’s many projects and an aggressive
defense of the company’s intellectual property. Hydro Green Energy is presently developing hydrokinetic power
projects in Alaska, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York and Texas.
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