Upgrades to New York's 12-MW Crescent,12-MW Vischer Ferry small hydro facilities completed

---Work to improve the 12-MW Crescent and 12-MW Vischer Ferry small hydro facilities on the Mohawk River in New York has been completed, at a total cost of $26 million.

The work also included equipment upgrades to the 5-MW Ashokan plant.

These facilities are owned by the New York Power Authority.

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the completion of the work on April 13.

The state says in a press release: "These improvements help New York move further toward Governor Cuomo's Clean Energy Standard that requires that 50 percent of the state's electricity needs to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2030."

Four of the eight turbine-generators at the Crescent and Vischer Ferry facilities were updated through NYPA's $20 million Life Extension and Modernization Program. Under a related $6 million initiative, NYPA also completed upgrades to control equipment at all three facilities. These initiatives are part of NYPA's Five-year Strategic Plan to upgrade and maintain its assets so they deliver optimal outcomes for energy customers.

NYPA purchased the Crescent and Vischer Ferry plants from the New York State Department of Transportation in 1984 and added two turbine-generator units to each project in 1990. In 1993, NYPA overhauled the two original turbine-generators units at each facility, which dated back to 1925.

The recently completed upgrades involve the turbine-generator units added in 1990 and include refurbishing the major components and replacing three flow-regulating gates and two overhead cranes, which were nearly a century old.

NYPA is currently undertaking an engineering assessment for the overhaul of the four original turbine-generator units.

NYPA operates 16 generating facilities, and more than 70% of the electricity it produces is clean, renewable hydropower.(From HRW)