Technology
Initiatives
Initiated in 2002, Verdant Power’s Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project is being operated in New York City’s East River.
In three phases, the RITE Project will test, demonstrate and deliver commercial electricity from Verdant Power’s Free Flow Kinetic Hydropower System (tidal). The RITE Project is a prime example of how the Free Flow System can be scaled for placement directly within a population center.
RITE Project Phases:
- Phase 1 (2002 – 2006): Prototype Testing
- Phase 2 (2006 – 2008): Demonstration
- Phase 3 (2009 – 2012): MW-Scale Build-Out
Phase 2 Demonstration Completed
Verdant Power recently achieved a major milestone by successfully completing the RITE Project’s Phase 2 Demonstration, which began in 2006 with the installation of the company’s first full-scale (5m diameter rotor) Free Flow System turbine into the East River.
Over this two-year period, Verdant Power operated six full-scale turbines in array at the RITE Project, successfully demonstrating the Free Flow System as an efficient source of renewable energy with the following outcomes:
- Excellent hydrodynamic, mechanical and electrical performance;
- Grid-connected power with no power quality problems;
- Fully bidirectional operation – passive yawing with high efficiency on both ebb and flood tides;
- Automatic control and continuous, unattended operation;
- No fouling or damage from debris;
- 70 megawatt hours of energy delivered to two end users;
- 9,000 turbine-hours of operation.
The RITE Project demonstration system stands as the world’s first grid-connected array of tidal turbines.
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