(photo courtesy Low Impact Hydropower Institute)
The Low Impact Hydropower Institute has issued a final decision to recertify the 102.3 MW Upper Raquette River Project on the Raquette River in New York.
The new term is July 9, 2022, through July 8, 2035. The project was first certified by LIHI in October 2004. It was recertified in July 2009 for a term that expired in July 2014, and in May 2015 it was recertified through July 2022.
The Upper Raquette River Project is owned by Erie Boulevard Hydropower LP, a subsidiary of Brookfield Renewable Energy Group, and consists of six developments along the Raquette River in St. Lawrence County, N.Y. It produces total average annual generation of 453.4 GWh.
Carry Falls, a storage dam that creates a 7-mile-long, 3,000-acre reservoir with no hydroelectric production.
Stark Falls, a concrete gravity structure that impounds a 1.5-mile-long, 641-acre reservoir and creates a 1.5-mile-long bypassed reach. The powerhouse contains a 23.87 MW turbine-generator unit.
Blake Falls, a concrete gravity structure that impounds a 5.5-mile-long, 660-acre reservoir and creates a 0.85-mile-long bypassed reach. The powerhouse contains a 13.91 MW turbine-generator unit.
Rainbow Falls, a concrete gravity structure that impounds a 3.5-mile-long, 710-acre reservoir and creates a bypassed reach about 100 feet long. The powerhouse contains a 22.83 MW turbine-generator unit.
Five Falls, a concrete gravity structure that impounds a 1.0-mile-long, 120-acre reservoir and creates a 0.54-mile-long bypassed reach. The powerhouse contains a 22.83 MW turbine-generator unit.
South Colton, a concrete gravity structure that impounds a 1.5-mile-long, 225-acre reservoir and creates a bypassed reach about 0.4 miles long. The powerhouse contains a 18.95 MW turbine-generator unit.
The project operates in coordination with the owner’s other developments on the Raquette River, including the Middle and Lower Raquette River Projects.
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.
