Equipment upgrades amounting to US$12.3M will add 3.4MW additional capacity to Brookfield Power's Lower Raquette River project, after the company received a capacity amendment to its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) operating license for the scheme.
The hydroelectric stations that comprise the Lower Raquette project include East Norfolk, Norfolk, Norwood and Raymondville; all are on the Raquette river in St. Lawrence County, New York, US.
‘These enhancements are part of a portfolio improvement plan underway at ten Brookfield Power projects in New York and Pennsylvania,’ said David Youlen, Brookfield Power’s Vice President Operations. ‘Improvements made under this plan may be eligible for renewable tax incentives as outlined in the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 and states’ renewable portfolio standards. The enhancements are an excellent way to showcase the potential that exists to responsibly grow hydro ower.’
At the East Norfolk hydroelectric facility, the company will replace an existing turbine with an upgraded turbine, update the existing digital governors to add turbine blade control to the programming, and perform generator stator and/or rotor upgrades to match the increased turbine output.
Fieldwork to facilitate the installation of the new equipment is currently underway at the East Norfolk and Norfolk plants, and will commence in the summer of 2007 at the Norwood and Raymondville plants. Target in-service dates are May and June 2007 for East Norfolk and Norfolk, respectively. The remainder of the site upgrades will be in-service by mid-November 2007. The improvements will provide 24,912MWh of incremental power.
To date, six projects under Brookfield Power’s portfolio improvement plan have received FERC license amendments, eventually adding 33,011MWh of incremental hydro power by the end of 2007.