Print |
E-mail to a friend
OPINIONS
Editorial: Clean energy advancements come in small projects
The hydroelectric generating station at the Greenup Locks and Dam was one of two such facilities built in the Tri-State in the 1980s. The other was at the Racine Locks and Dam on the Ohio River between Pomeroy, Ohio, and Ravenswood, W.Va. Several have been added since then, and more are on the way as power companies seek smaller, greener ways of producing electricity.
Purchase this photoYou know all those questions that people sit around and ask, such as, "Why aren't there hydroelectric generating stations on Ohio River dams?"
Actually, some dams do have hydroelectric plants. Three hydroelectric plants were built in the 1980s -- at the Greenup Locks and Dam below Huntington, the Racine Locks and Dam near Pomeroy, Ohio, and the Hannibal Locks and Dam at New Martinsville, W.Va.
And more are on the way.
Last week, American Municipal Power-Ohio announced that it has signed a contract with Vioth Siemens Hydro to buy the generating equipment for three new Ohio River hydroelectric plants. They will be built at the Willow Island Locks and Dam near Marietta, Ohio, the Cannelton Locks and Dam about 100 miles below Louisville and the Smithland Locks and Dam above Paducah, Ky.
It sounds like a no-brainer, but it takes a combination of market needs and technology to develop hydropower at dams with such small drops in water level as you find on the Ohio River. Given the price and environmental problems of fossil fuels and the political and engineering problems of developing nuclear power, small hydroelectric plants are looking better.
There's no question we need more electricity, and we need cleaner ways of producing it. If you built hydroelectric plants at all the dams on the Ohio, you would still generate less electricity than one coal-fired plant, but they do contribute to the region's power supply.
Meanwhile, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals last week cleared the way for a 124-turbine wind farm.
The justices ruled Monday after hearing arguments on the $300 million Beech Ridge Energy LLC project in January. Beech Ridge's owner, Chicago-based Invenergy, wants to place the wind turbines along a 23-mile stretch of ridgeline owned by Stamford, Conn.-based MeadWestvaco. The 186-megawatt facility would be located nine miles northeast of Rupert in Greenbrier County.
The PSC approved the permit in August 2006. The agency attached 25 conditions, including limiting noise and lighting and construction hours at the site near Rupert and conducting studies on the impact on bats and birds.
A group of local residents had challenged the permit, saying it didn't include opponents' input on issues such as the cultural and historical importance of the area.
Cleaner energy is coming in small increments. Wind farms can be hazardous to bats and birds. Those problems will have to be worked around, just as the fact that coal-fired power plants had to cool their discharge water so the Ohio River would not be too warm for fish and other wildlife in many places.
We have many opportunities for small clean-energy projects in West Virginia. We need to encourage them as much as we can.
