Dive Brief:
- Federal regulators have rejected Symphony Hydro's proposal to install 3.4 MW of hydroelectric capacity on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, the Star Tribune reports.
- The proposal was one of three plans to add generation at the city's Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock.
- Xcel Energy currently operates a hydroelectric facility there and has proposed additional generation. Crown Hydro has a proposal before FERC as well.
Dive Insight:
Federal regulators rejected Symphony Hydro's 3.4 MW proposal, noting that the Army Corps of Engineers believed the project "would preclude or seriously interfere with its use of the lock for navigation and would therefore be incompatible with the statutorily authorized purpose of the facility."
FERC concluded that because the Corps, which owns the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, would not sign off "it seems highly unlikely that Symphony Hydro would be able to perform any site-specific studies or take any significant steps toward developing a license application during the term of the preliminary permit. Accordingly, no purpose would be served by issuing a permit here."
Xcel Energy has been generating hydroelectric power since 1882 from the St. Anthony Falls, and currently operates the 12-MW Hennepin Island Hydro Generating Station, also known as the St. Anthony Falls Hydro facility. The city is concerned that too much additional generation could take away from the falls' appeal to tourists and residents, but Xcel in the past operated additional hydro units.