Hydrokinetic Installation Generates Clean Power from Mississippi River (not a dam)

With the flick of a switch, the first ever commercial-scale hydrokinetic power plant in the U.S. officially commenced operation in the Mississippi River yesterday. The hydrokinetic turbines, manufactured by Hydro Green Energy LLC, are located below an existing hydropower plant at Hastings, Minnesota. The initial turbine has a capacity of 100KW. When fully operational, the new facility will have a capacity of 250KW, adding more than 5.7% of sustainable energy generation without the need to expand the existing dam or build a new one.
Hydro Green Energy
Unlike hydropower dams, which operate on water pressure, hydrokinetic turbines produce energy from ambient movement in the water. Tidal power and wave power are two other examples of hydrokinetic power. Hydro Green installed the first hydrokinetic turbine in the Mississippi late last year, as a first step in an ambitious plant to draw 1,600 MW of hydrokinetic power from the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Commercial operation of the plant had to wait until an intensive study of the impact on fish, which has just been completed by Normandeau Associates. The study found a survival rate of over 97%.



Hydrokinetic Installation Generates Clean Power from Mississippi River