Thirty turbines are being installed along the strait that connects the Long Island Sound with the Atlantic Ocean in the New York Harbor. The deployment, part of the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy project, is led by Verdant Power and is the first commercially licensed tidal energy project in the United States.

The turbines are scheduled to be fully installed by 2015 and will use the flow of the river and tides to generate 1,050 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power 9,500 New York homes.
In addition, the turbines will also collect environmental data regarding to their impact on fish and river sediment and provide jobs to a team of technicians who will maintain and monitor the equipment.

The Energy Department helps advance water power technologies by funding research develop innovative technologies to fulfill its energy potential. The Department began providing Verdant Power with funding in 2008 to improve the turbines’ blade design. Verdant has developed and tested turbine prototypes in the East River since 2002, but those turbine rotors were not durable enough to be scaled for commercialization. With the Energy Department’s assistance, Verdant designed and tested new blades that are stronger and more reliable. The improved blades enable them to capture more energy from faster currents at greater depths and at a lower cost. This technological improvement is important progress for the entire tidal energy industry.

According to the Department of Energy, funding for innovative water power technologies is helping the United States to “take advantage of its vast water power resources to generate clean energy and to bolster the renewable energy economy. As advanced marine and hydrokinetic technologies are responsibly deployed and new hydropower opportunities are seized, water resources could deliver 15 percent of our nation’s electricity supply by 2030.”

For more information about how marine and hydrokinetic technologies are generating renewable, environmentally responsible, and cost-effective electricity from water resources, visit http://www1.eere.energy.gov/water/m/index.html

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