Low-impact hydroelectric power project recertified in New York

Lighthouse Hill
The Lighthouse Hill development (photo courtesy Low Impact Hydropower Institute)

The Low Impact Hydropower Institute has issued a final decision to recertify the 36.25 MW Salmon River Project on the Salmon River in New York. 

The new term is Nov. 14, 2021, through Nov. 13, 2034. The project was first certified by LIHI in March 2006. It was recertified in November 2014 for a term that expired last November.

The Salmon River Project is owned by Erie Boulevard Hydropower LP, a unit of Brookfield Renewable Energy Group, and consists of two developments along the Salmon River in Redfield, Orwell and Oswego, N.Y.

The Salmon River has a 285-square-mile drainage basin located in the north-central region of the state. The project’s operational plan was developed via the Salmon River Project Settlement Offer (SRPSO) in consultation with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), New York Rivers United, the Adirondack Mountain Club, and Trout Unlimited. The SRPSO was designed to provide for the continued operation of the project with long-term environmental protection measures and the balance of power and non-power values in the Salmon River Basin.

The two developments are:

28.75 MW Bennett’s Bridge: The dam is a 607-foot-long and 45-foot-high concrete gravity dam with a reinforced concrete intake structure, 92 feet long by 39.5 feet wide by 53 feet high. The project impounds a reservoir with a maximum surface area of 3,550 acres, which creates a 3.5-mile-long bypass reach. The 10,000-foot-long conduit system consists of a concrete tunnel section 650 feet long and 12 feet in diameter; a reinforced plastic pipeline section 7,790 feet long and 12 feet in diameter; a steel pipeline section 1,200 feet long and 11.5 feet in diameter; a surge tank 105 feet high; a steel distributor 200 feet long and 12 feet in diameter; and four steel penstocks, each 330 feet long and 8 feet in diameter, with associated shut-off and air valves. The powerhouse contains four turbine-generator units.

7.5 MW Lighthouse Hill: The dam is a 382-foot-long concrete gravity dam consisting of a 155-foot-long and 59-foot-high non-overflow section, a 43-foot-long and 53-foot-high ungated spillway section controlled, and a 184-foot-long and 46-foot-high spillway section. The dam impounds a reservoir with a maximum surface area of 170 acres, which creates a 0.57-mile-long bypass reach. The development has three 17-foot-wide by 8-foot-high by 62-foot-long concrete penstocks and a 15-foot-long sluice gate section leading to the powerhouse. The powerhouse contains two turbine-generator units as well as an environmental flow turbine-generator unit.

Average annual generation from both powerhouses is 116,354 MWh.

The voluntary LIHI program is designed to help consumers identify environmentally sound, low-impact hydropower facilities. Certification under the program means the owner can market the project as a certified low-impact facility.

LIHI is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the environmental impacts of hydropower generation through the certification of hydropower projects that have avoided or reduced their environmental impacts pursuant to the institute’s criteria.

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