First commercial hydrokinetic plant started
HASTINGS, MINNESOTA - U.S.-based Hydro Green Energy announced it started its first commercial hydrokinetic project.
HGE said it has successfully installed one of two underwater turbines in Hastings, Minn. The turbines are being installed downstream from a 4.4-megawatt U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hydropower plant.
The second turbine is expected to be installed in the spring.
"With the successful installation of our first turbine, Hydro Green Energy has taken another historic step and has strengthened its status as the industry leader," said Wayne Krouse, chairman and chief executive officer of HGE. "We, with the city of Hastings, are now in a position to soon send the first hydrokinetic electrons ever to the U.S. power grid."
Hydrokinetic power is generated from moving water in open rivers, tidal areas and oceans through suspended turbines.
The Hastings project was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in December.
Related News

A Snapshot of the US Market for Smart Solar Inverters
WASHINGTON - Advanced solar inverters could be one of the biggest distributed energy resource communications and control points out there someday. With California now requiring at least early-stage “smart” capabilities from all new solar projects — and a standards road map for next-stage efforts like real-time communications and active controls — this future now has a template.
There are still a lot of unanswered questions about how smart inverters will be used.
That was the consensus at Intersolar this week, where experts discussed the latest developments on the U.S. smart solar inverter front. After years of pilot projects, multi-stakeholder technical working groups,…