Ben Houston, GroundPoint Engineering In order to estimate how much power a dam can produce, you need to estimate how much water may be available for power production. A simple way to start is to estimate total average flow using the drainage area ratio method. This method approximates the total flow coming from the upstream […]
Ben Houston, GroundPoint Engineering All potential hydropower projects should include an initial rough cost estimate along with computation of the payback period based on the anticipated amount of power that might be generated. As an example: Maximum Power Potential = 20 kW Total Potential Revenue from Power= $15,000/yr Note: you can estimate total potential power […]
Ben Houston, GroundPoint Engineering The operation of hydroelectric plants can cause serious ecological impacts. When estimating the volume of flow available to generate power, it’s important to remember that not all the flow in the stream can be routed through the turbines. A certain amount of flow needs to remain in the stream to help […]
This map series takes a wider view of the potential impacts of hydropower on water and wildlife, looking at the entire state of New York. Like the community view maps of the Sawkill River watershed, these maps examine the interaction of biological barriers, such as dams and culverts, with areas of groundwater vulnerability, surface water, […]
Ben Houston, GroundPoint Engineering Understanding issues like determining available head and flow are critical to figuring out whether you can generate enough power to make a project viable. So, the Bard team built an online tool that allows you to explore any location using a map and interactively move where you place your power facility […]
This map series takes a local view of the potential impacts of hydropower on water and wildlife, zooming in on the Saw Kill Watershed. Like the Statewide maps , these maps examine various potential including the interaction of biological barriers with groundwater vulnerability, surface water, and land use. The intention of these maps is to […]
This web map application demonstrates how to access publicly available web mapping services for ranges and distributions of key plant and animal species that have been modeled by the National USGS Gap Analysis Program. This information can be useful to indicate the potential for key threatened or endangered species to exist in your project area. […]
Bard College takes the first step in the microhydro permitting process and submits a Letter of Intent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Current Hydro This post will give you a little outlook to what the first steps of the hydropower permitting process look like. As you know from previous posts, we filed a letter of intent with FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and FERC found the Annandale Project to required to be licensed – back in […]
Matt Deady, Professor of Physics, Director of the Physics Program, Bard College Evaluating the Viability of a Micro-hydro Site For a micro-hydro installation to be feasible, certain stream conditions must be met. The amount of power that can be generated at a hydro site depends on three factors: Power = (head) × (available flow rate) […]