Update On Verdant Power Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project, East River Water Turbines Replaced With More Environmental Friendly, Lower Cost & More Efficient Plastic Rotors - Roosevelt Island May Become Water, Solar, Renewable Energy Showcase To The World

As reported October 20, 2020:

Since 2002, Verdant Power's Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project (RITE) has been developing water turbine technology to generate electric power from the currents of the East River next to the Roosevelt Island Foodtown (formerly Gristedes) supermarket on the Queens side of the East River.

Last Thursday, October 22, Verdant Power continued development of the technology by deploying their 5th Generation Water Turbine in the East River....

Earlier this week, after the turbines have been in the East River for 6 months, Verdant Power returned to Roosevelt Island 

for a maintenance exercise to demonstrate how easily the turbines can go in and out of the water. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @rooseveltislander

Also, Verdant Power retrieved and replaced the turbines installed 6 months ago with a new environmentally friendly plastic rotor designed by the US Department of Energy which Verdant says will lowers the cost and operate more efficiently for the next 6 months of testing in the East River salt water.

I spoke with Verdant Power's Founder and Chief Marketing Officer Trey Taylor last Wednesday before the new turbines were lowered back down into the East River.

Mr Taylor said to date the RITE East River water turbines have produced 200 megawatt hours of electricity for the Con Ed distribution power grid, which he says is a new record, and that the turbines have performed at a rate 40% higher than they thought it would.

Mr Taylor also spoke about working with Con Ed to set up energy storage on Roosevelt Island. He added that eventually, with the US Department of Energy, NY State and Empire State Development Corp, the RITE project could convert into a world class demonstration center of renewable hybrid energy systems leading to climate change improvements and many jobs.  

According to Mr Taylor, the hope is to turn Roosevelt Island into a water, solar and renewable energy showcase to the world.

Here's my conversation with Verdant Power's Trey Taylor.

More info on Verdant Power Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project at their web site and US Department of Energy.

Verdant Power Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project Deploys Latest Generation Of Water Turbine Technology To Generate Electricity From East River Currents Off The Banks Of Roosevelt Island

Since 2002, Verdant Power's Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project (RITE) has been developing water turbine technology to generate electric power from the currents of the East River next to the Roosevelt Island Foodtown (formerly Gristedes) supermarket on the Queens side of the East River.

Last Thursday, October 22, Verdant Power continued development of the technology by deploying their 5th Generation Water Turbine

 

in the East River.

Verdant Power Roosevelt Island East River Water Turbines getting ready this afternoon to be installed on seabed later this evening. https://t.co/YIV6QLpElF pic.twitter.com/AEREkD4eFj

— Roosevelt Islander (@Rooseveltisland) October 22, 2020

This Verdant Power video show the 3 water turbines being installed in the East River after arriving on a a barge traveling from New Jersey.

 I spoke with Verdant Power CEO John Bannigan and Founder/Chief Marketing Officer Trey Taylor about the year long test project prior to the deployment of the 5th generation Water Turbines.

 

 Here's how the water turbine technology works. According to Verdant Power:

The East River is a tidal strait with strong water currents that change direction between flood and ebb tides approximately four times each day (with periods of little or noflow between tides, called “slack tide”). As shown in the figure below,

when the water velocity exceeds approximately 1.0 m/s (3.3 ft/s or 2 knots), the turbine blades begin to rotate and the units generate electricity for approximately 4.5 hours (red areas in figure). As the tide shifts direction, the turbines yaw (turn approximately 170 degrees) to generate power from the current flowing in the opposite direction. This cycle repeats in a very predictable manner approximately every 6 hours. The regular nature of tidal currents provides a significant advantage for tidal power as compared to other, less predictable resources like wind and solar power.

More info on Verdant Power and Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project.

You're Invited To Verdant Power Roosevelt Island East River Tidal Energy Project Open House March 29 - Come Learn How Roosevelt Island Will Be At Forefront Of Clean, Renewable Energy And Fight Climate Change

Image From Verdant Power

Since 2002, Verdant Power has been developing water turbine technology to generate electric power from the currents of the East River at a Roosevelt Island site behind Gristedes on the Queens side of the East Promenade.

Image of Verdant Power Water Turbine Being Installed On Roosevelt Island August 29, 2012

Tomorrow evening, March 29, Verdant Power is hosting an Open House to update the Roosevelt Island community on the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project. You're invited to come learn about the project. According to Verdant Power:

Please join us on March 29th at the Roosevelt Island Senior Association for a free information session hosted by Verdant Power. We'll be discussing a planned installation of our next generation marine renewable technology and what this means for you. This will put Roosevelt Island at the forefront of new clean energy. We hope that you will come by and learn how to play a role in making sustainability a future reality. We'll be making short presentations throughout the evening and staff will be available to answer questions. RSVPs are encouraged and will be appreciated:

https://verdantpowerri.eventbrite.com

Date and Time

Thursday, March 29, 2018 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM EDT

Location

546 Main Street New York, NY 10044

A Verdant Power spokesperson adds:

Verdant Power has just launched equity crowd funding campaign to raise $1M in small dollar amounts from regular citizens. This campaign is made possible by the recent implementation of the JOBS Act, which affords average citizens the chance to get in on the ground floor of promising start-up companies. The Company is optimistic that this type of investment vehicle will democratize the corporate financing process. More on the just-launched campaign can be found here:

Here's more on Verdant Power from 2010 Clean Skies News report



and my 2012 interview with Verdant Power's Trey Taylor as the 5th generation water turbine was being placed in the East River



and Mr Taylor explaining his goal of creating a virtual power plant of clean energy technologies for Roosevelt Island.



Very exciting stuff. Come to the Verdant Power Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project Open House tomorrow evening to learn more.

GreenHome NYC Spotlight On Sustainable Roosevelt Island At REI SOHO Store Tonight - Cornell Net Zero Building, Verdant East River Tidal Turbine, Octagon Fuel Cell & NYSERDA Discussed

Image Of Verdant East River Tidal Turbine

Want to learn more about Roosevelt Island clean energy projects?

 Image Of Octagon Building Fuel Cell

Then this program from GreenHome NYC is for you.

According to GreenHome NYC:

August Forum – Spotlight on Roosevelt Island
July 28, 2013

New York is a city made up of islands, so Roosevelt Island, the 2-mile long island in the East River might seem unremarkable, but it features a wealth of unique systems and a rich history that are worth taking a moment to examine! That’s why in August we’ll be doing one of our Spotlight features on it. We’ll hear about the planned Cornell Tech campus which will break ground in 2014 and will be home to NYC’s largest net-zero building, learn about the tidal turbines that are grid-tied to the Island (the first such system in the world!), and hear about some of the sustainable buildings on the Island. It’s going to be a great evening and we hope you’ll join us for it!

Date: August 29, 2013

Time: 6:30pm – 8:00pm

Place: REI Community Room, 303 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012

Click here to register!

Please plan ahead to arrive promptly. Our spaces are donated to us so we must keep to the schedule we provide.

Our speakers will include:

Ron Smith, President, Verdant Power

Michael Razanousky, Project Manager, NYSERDA

Julie Hiromoto, Associate, Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill

Michelle Lauterwasser, Associate, Becker + Becker

More information on Roosevelt Island green energy projects, including Roosevelt Landings energy savings retrofit of building systems and installation of cogeneration power, at this previous post.

Did you know that:

An #NYC fact to share at #CityLab: Roosevelt Island residents use the most energy per household in the city http://t.co/ik2geUTgGs
— AtlanticLIVE (@Atlantic_LIVE) August 26, 2013

CBS News Reports On Verdant Power Roosevelt Island East River Tidal Energy Project - Verdant Collaborating With Cornell NYC Tech On Marine Energy Project And Virtual Power Plant

Image of Verdant Power Water Turbine Being Installed On Roosevelt Island August 2012

CBS News reported today on Verdant Power's Roosevelt Island East River Tidal Energy Project. According to CBS News:

... In the middle of the river sits Roosevelt Island, a narrow, 150-acre strip of land that serves as the home base for a company called Verdant Power. Verdant has spent the last decade trying to harness the current flowing past the island to create a new kind of green power source - one that comes from underwater turbines that look a bit like giant electric fans.

"They look a lot like wind turbines, except they're smaller because they have to fit entirely underwater," said Dean Corren, Verdant's director of technology....

Last August, I interviewed Verdant Power President Trey Taylor as their 5th generation water turbine prototype was being installed in the East River. Here's what Mr. Taylor had to say.



According to Green Energy News:

Cornell University and Verdant Power Inc., signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the intention of entering into a long-term relationship centered on research and other activities related to Marine & Hydrokinetic (MHK) technologies. Verdant Power's MHK project on Roosevelt Island in New York City is the first commercially licensed tidal energy plant in U.S. It remains the only project in the world where an array of tidal energy turbines has successfully been deployed and operated. Cornell University is building Cornell Tech, its new applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island. Cornell's researchers and Verdant Power share the vision of an array of underwater turbines in the East River off Roosevelt Island, permitted by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Pilot License (#P-12611).

Verdant Power's Trey Taylor also spoke to me about future plans on Roosevelt Island and with Cornell NYC Tech to develop a "virtual power plant".



It's true - Roosevelt Island is at the forefront of American technology innovation. As Mr. Taylor says, "that's pretty cool"

Cogeneration Power Plant And Cutting Edge Energy Savings Improvements Coming To Roosevelt Island's Roosevelt Landings - The Largest Multifamily Energy Retrofit In NYC Says Owner Urban American

Roosevelt Island is an exciting place for new innovative green energy projects. There is the Verdant Power's East River tidal water turbine,

Octagon building Fuel Cell,

planned Geothermal Wells for Cornell NYC Tech net zero energy campus,

future Con Ed high pressure gas service and proposed District Energy solutions.

Added to this list of Roosevelt Island green energy projects are the measures currently being undertaken at the Roosevelt Landings/Eastwood buildings (over 1 thousand apartments)

 Image of Roosevelt Landings formerly Eastwood

by owner Urban American to install comprehensive energy saving systems and a cogeneraton power plant.

Urban American's Josh Eisenberg explained these efforts last month during a Roosevelt Island real estate discussion on the Michael Stoler Report. Here's what Mr. Eisenberg had to say.



I recently spoke with Mr. Eisenberg and David Davenport of Urban Greenfit, partners on the Roosevelt Landings energy retrofit project, about conservation and efficiency improvements being made to individual apartments, common areas and building exteriors as well as the replacement of old boilers with a cogeneration plant and high efficiency boilers. We took a tour of the building including mechanical room as the old boilers were in the process of being removed.



Below is an Urban American newsletter delivered to residents last week describing in great detail the Roosevelt Landings energy retrofit currently being undertaken.

In June 2011, Urban American substantially completed over $7 million in energy‐efficiency retrofits at Roosevelt Landings through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Multifamily Performance Program (MPP). This work involved a “conventional energy retrofit” focused on certain system upgrades, including:

• Installation of submeters in resident apartments
• Upgrades of common area lighting 
• Replacement of external lighting
• Replacement of windows
• Installation of occupancy sensors
• Replacement of older refrigerators
• Installation of timers on bathroom exhaust fans
• Air sealing of air conditioner sleeves
• CFL lighting distribution
• Installation of low‐flow shower heads/aerators

With the exception of refrigerator replacements (which are still underway), all of these projects have been completed.

During this upgrade process, engineers working with Urban American determined that there were still significant opportunities to achieve even greater energy savings through a “deep energy retrofit” at the property, including a combination of sustainable‐energy and energy‐efficiency measures. Deep energy retrofits achieve much greater energy savings than conventional retrofits by taking a whole‐building approach, addressing many systems at once.

The deep energy retrofit now underway at Roosevelt Landings includes $7 million in new investments and is currently the largest energy retrofit of a multifamily building in New York City. The project involves two scopes of work:

• Energy‐Efficiency Measures: A combination of advanced energy‐efficiency retrofits composed of: a) air sealing of common spaces and resident apartments, b) smart grid controlled programmable thermostats and window sensors in all resident apartments, and c) foam insulation applied to exterior exposed concrete slabs under resident apartments.
• Sustainable‐Energy Measures: A cogeneration plant paired with new high‐efficiency boilers that will provide electricity, thermal heat, and domestic hot water (DHW) to the building.

To manage these projects, Urban American has partnered with Urban Greenfit, LLC (UGF), a new company dedicated to developing energy‐efficiency projects. The current project began in January 2013 and will be completed later this summer.

The following summarizes the work underway at Roosevelt Landings, explains how the work will impact the building and resident quality of life, and prepares residents for the upgrades and improvements that require access to resident apartments.

UGF has engaged two companies, H20 Degree and Air Barrier Solutions, to visit resident apartments to perform the necessary upgrades.

Electric Heat Control: The first group of contractors from H20 Degree will be entering resident apartments to do two things: replace older baseboard heaters with new heaters and install programmable thermostats to control the heaters.

Heater Replacement: Older model 2‐6 foot baseboard heaters will be replaced with new heaters of the same size. Older model 6‐12 foot baseboard heaters will be replaced with new 6‐foot baseboard heaters. In most cases, the decrease in size is due largely to the elimination of a utility plug or button controls on the heater. Irrespective of the size, the new heaters will provide better performance in every apartment due to faster heating coil materials and newer technology.

Installation of Programmable Thermostats: Dials and buttons on the old baseboard heaters are being replaced with wall‐mounted programmable thermostats. The new thermostats will send a wireless signal to a paired “controller” on each baseboard heater. Residents will be able to select a target temperature, and the thermostat will power the heater until the room reaches that desired comfort level.

The number of thermostats installed in each apartment is determined by the number of rooms in the apartments:

Benefits of the new thermostats:

• Residents can set the temperature on thermostat without touching heater 
• Allow residents to see and set the temperature in zone of their apartment 
• Displays ambient (room temperature) and set point (desired temperature) 
• Allows time of day and day of week programming from the thermostat
• Allows 2 way communication between the thermostat and central energy control system in building
• Room temperature, set points, and heater operation data will be collected and stored wirelessly to monitor and improve overall system performance
• Allows building management to monitor and adjust set points per tenant request, identify apartments with broken heaters, and characterize usage patterns

Apartment Air Sealing: A second group of contractors from Air Barrier Solutions will tighten the “building envelope” by airsealing resident apartments to eliminate cold air infiltration and drafts during the heating season. Air Barrier Solutions will perform six scopes of work in each apartment:

• Plug holes behind heaters and along exterior walls that allow drafts in the building 
• Caulk windows where leaks are evident 
• Install draft blocking gaskets in exterior wall electrical outlets 
• Caulk beneath the sill of the outside windows
• Seal holes around pipes under sinks that allow drafts (and pests) in apartments
• Clean and retrofit the ventilation register covers and orifices in resident kitchens and bathrooms; the metal interiors of the ventilation ducts will be brushed and wiped clean, and a new orifice plate will be installed to regulate and distribute ventilation airflow more evenly among apartments

Common Area Airsealing: In addition to the work done in resident apartments, Air Barrier Solutions is airsealing common areas, including elevator machine rooms, stairwells, and AVAC rooms. Locks will be installed on hallway corridor windows for use during the heating season. The windows will remain open during the rest of the year. Thru‐wall corridor air supply fans with filters will be installed in each corridor and operate when the windows are locked to maintain NYC Building Code and ASHRAE code guidelines. These measures will eliminate the “wind tunnel effect” that some residents have experienced when walking the halls during the cold months and keep cold air out of the hallways and from entering resident apartments.

Floor Slab Insulation: Apartments that protrude over Main Street and breezeways will have high‐density spray foam installed directly below concrete floor slabs and at wall penetrations. This will eliminate the key source of cold floors in these apartments and block cold air from leaking into the building.

New Boilers and Onsite Power Generation: Two other major improvements to building 540 are underway: the installation of new boilers and sustainable‐energy technologies.

• Boiler Upgrade: UGF is currently replacing Roosevelt Landings’ 4 original and outdated boilers that are now operating at 65% efficiency with 5 new 95% efficient boilers.
• Sustainable Energy: UGF will install 3 x 100 kW combined heat and power (CHP) modules that together have the capacity to generate 300 kW of electricity and 2.1 million BTUs/hr of DHW. Generally speaking, the CHP system will create 15% of building electricity onsite as well as preheat the boilers by 40%

What Residents Should Expect:

The retrofits in resident apartments started in building 510 and will progress to building 580 working one or two floors at a time. Residents will be notified in advance and be required to make their apartments accessible on the mornings or afternoons when the workers are scheduled to be on your floor. The entire job (including heater replacement, thermostat installation, and air sealing) will take between 90 minutes to 3 hours depending on apartment size. Although we started doing partial installs in the first buildings, the crews are now completing all of their work when they visit an apartment.

Notification will go out a week before the workers come to your floor, and building staff will knock on resident doors and leave a reminder the night before the workers come. We ask that you move any furniture away from your exterior walls and remove all items from under your sinks. If you need assistance, building staff will be available to help you move items to and from the work area the day the work is done. When the work is complete, building staff will be available to sheetrock, patch, and repair areas near the heaters, if necessary.

Once work has been completed in your building, training sessions will be provided to explain how the thermostats work. And when work has been completed in all buildings, resident education seminars on energy efficiency will be provided to help educate residents on how to be more energy efficient within their apartments.

Thus far, the work has been conducted professionally and generally on schedule. In light of the size and scale of these projects, however, we ask for your patience on a few minor issues that have arisen.

• We ask for your patience with respect to scheduling. Some apartments simply require more work than others or have a lot of furniture to be moved. This sometimes causes unpredictable delays and gaps between the work crews.
• We ask your patience with the new thermostats. In order for the thermostats to work properly, they must be installed, programmed, and connected to a computer network to be fully operational. In some cases there have been lags of up to 2 days between the time the thermostats have been installed and the time they begin controlling the heaters.
• When new baseboard heaters are first used, they sometimes burn off sediment or other materials causing smoke and/or an electrical smell. This may be annoying, but it is normal.

We appreciate your cooperation and patience as we proceed with the work in the months ahead, and we apologize for any inconvenience caused by the work. Our goal is to improve resident comfort and make the building more energy efficient.

Submetering

As noted above, submetering is an important part of these projects.

At present, the New York State Public Service Commission’s (PSC) “Order Reinstating Submetering Approval at North Town Roosevelt with Conditions” (the NTR Submetering Order) allows for the submetering of all of the electricity utilized by the resident(s) in each apartment. This includes both plug load electricity (i.e., refrigerator, television[s], computer[s], lights, etc.) and heat load electricity (i.e., what is used for the electric resistance baseboard heaters).

As you may recall, during the comment period before the NTR Submetering Order was issued, some residents raised the issue of paying for electricity used for the baseboard heaters. In response, Urban American tasked its technical consultants with determining whether plug load electricity could be disaggregated from heat load electricity. In other words, upon implementing submetering at Roosevelt Landings, residents would only pay for plug load electricity, not heat load electricity. Ultimately, Urban American’s consultants were successful in developing a solution by which plug load electricity could be separated from the electricity used for the baseboard heaters, thereby ensuring that residents would only be billed for their plug load electricity usage.

In implementing submetering at Roosevelt Landings as part of the above projects, Urban American intends to proceed with this new solution of separating plug load electricity from heat load electricity. Prior to doing so, since this approach differs from what the PSC previously approved, Urban American recently filed a petition for clarification of the NTR Submetering Order with the PSC (see http://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/Common/ViewDoc.aspx?DocRefId={85FED753‐D1C4‐44C1‐ A16F‐62FA8BBA514D}).

In this petition for clarification, Urban American recommitted to the following conditions at Roosevelt Landings:

• Complete all NYSERDA Energy Reduction Plan Measures
• Provide Energy Conservation Education For Residents
• Provide Energy Star Rated Models to All Residents with Refrigerators Manufactured Before 2001
• Provide Utility Allowances for All Residents
• Installing at Least One Programmable Thermostat in the Primary Living Area of Each Apartment

Further, Urban American will provide residents notice of when submetering will begin no less than two months prior to the commencement of submetering. During this notice period, and for longer if practically possible, Urban American will provide residents with “shadow bills,” which measure the electricity use for each apartment and calculate a bill reflecting such usage. These shadow bills will be provided for informational purposes to the residents, but actual submetering will not be occurring and the residents will have no responsibility to pay the amount shown on these shadow bills.

The combination of this revised submetering plan and the above investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy at Roosevelt Landings will result in clear benefits to residents, including: a) not being billed under submetering for electric heat usage, b) receiving air‐sealed apartments, providing greater comfort while requiring less heat, and c) receiving at least one networked programmable thermostat to maintain optimal levels of zoned comfort.

On May 1, 2013, the PSC published notice of Urban American’s petition for clarification in the State Register. This starts a 45‐day public comment period that ends on June 14, 2013. Comments on the petition may be submitted Jeffrey C. Cohen, Acting Secretary, Public Service Commission, 3 Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223‐1350, (518) 408‐1978, email: secretary@dps.ny.gov. Please reference Case Number 08‐E‐0838 in any comments.

Thank you for your attention as we work to complete these energy‐efficiency and sustainable‐energy projects at Roosevelt Landings. If you have any questions about this update, please contact us at: reduceenergy@urbanamerican.net

The inefficient electricity infrastructure and submetering proposal at Roosevelt Landings has been a long time contentious issue between Urban American, building residents and local elected officials. Here's more background on the issue from previous posts.

Also, reported previously on NYC Power Consumtion.

According to Modi Research Group:

The map represents the total annual building energy consumption at the block level (zoom levels 11-15) and at the taxlot level (zoom levels 16-18) for New York City, and is expressed in kilowatt hours (k Wh) per square meter of land area. The data comes from a mathematical model based on statistics, not private information from utilities, to estimate the annual energy consumption values of buildings throughout the five boroughs. To see the break down of the type of energy being used, for which purpose and in what quantity, hover over or click on a block or taxlot.

Click here for the interactive map and Roosevelt Island power consumptions statistics.

Roosevelt Island Interview With Verdant Power President Trey Taylor As Next Generation East River Turbine Installed - Plans To Create A Virtual Power Plant On Roosevelt Island Using Wind, Solar, Turbine and Bio Energy

Reported on August 30 that:

... Verdant Power installed its latest prototype water turbine in East River next to Roosevelt Island Gristedes Supermarket yesterday afternoon. The new turbine will undergo tests for the next two weeks....

Image of Verdant Power Water Turbine Being Installed On Roosevelt Island August 29

As the water turbine was being installed, I spoke with Verdant Power President Trey Taylor. Mr. Taylor explained that the energy produced from the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project (RITE) when fully built out (1 Megawatt of Power) is intended for Roosevelt Island uses as a form of distributed generation in a demonstration of decentralized power. According to Mr. Taylor, previous testing of RITE brought energy to the Gristedes Supermarket and the intent in the future is to bring energy to the new Cornell Campus as well as Roosevelt Island buildings.

You Tube Video of Interview With Verdant Power Trey Tower on Roosevelt Island

Mr. Taylor also talked about ultimately creating a Roosevelt Island Virtual Power Plant using solar, wind, bio and tidal energy creating our own sustainable energy community and an example for the entire world.

You Tube Video of Interview With Verdant Power President Trey Taylor On Roosevelt Island

Wow - I agree with Mr. Taylor, that would be pretty cool.

Here's the installation of the turbine into the East River on August 29.

You Tube Video of Verdant Water Turbine Being Installed In East River

More on the decentralization of energy from this April 2012 article in The Atlantic and this previous post on Roosevelt Island energy issues.

Con Ed, RIOC and Roosevelt Island Building Representatives Meet To Discuss Future Energy and Gas Service Needs, Here's What Happened - Also, Verdant Power Installs New East River Turbine Yesterday

Image From Con Ed

Reported on August 7 that:

... representatives from Con Ed, Cornell, Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) and various building representatives met to discuss future Roosevelt Island energy usage including the possibility of Con Ed providing high pressure gas service to Roosevelt Island. (high pressure gas service was discussed at this April 16 RIOC Operations Committee Meeting). Although originally invited to attend this meeting by RIOC, the press was subsequently denied permission to attend the meeting by Con Ed. Hope to have more on what happened at this meeting soon....

It's taken some time to obtain any information about the meeting but below are the minutes of the meeting prepared by a Con Ed representative and shared with the Roosevelt Island community by one of the participants from the meeting:

Meeting Purpose
Con Edison has received a number of requests for new or upgraded gas service on Roosevelt Island. The existing gas infrastructure on Roosevelt Island is not capable of supplying all the requested gas without reinforcement. Con Edison seeks to ensure it is aware of all proposed gas projects on the island for the foreseeable future in order to make efficient plans for upgrading the gas infrastructure.

Discussion
Con Edison reviewed the list of addresses for which load letters have been received. The fire station is expected to submit a load letter for gas service. Apart from the fire station the attendees did not identify any other additional expected load letters.
Locations for which load letters have been received
• Applied Science Campus
• Coler Hospital
• AVAC building
• Motorgate (including retail spaces)
• Sports Park
• South Town Towers 7, 8 & 9
• Eastwood Building retail spaces: 504-570 Main Street
• Rivercross Building retail spaces: 503-527 main street
• Westview building retail spaces: 591-619 main street
• Island House building retail spaces: 549-571 main street.
• PS217
• Rivercross Building residential heating
• Child School

Based on the submitted load letters to-date, Con Edison will be able to supply all proposed by performing upgrades to the medium pressure system in two phases.

• Phase 1 (by July 2013): Install 1880 feet of 8” piping at the northern end of the island.
• Phase 2 (to be finalized): Install 3,286 feet of 8” piping at the southern end of the island.

All infrastructure upgrades will avoid main street where possible, in preference for walkways or unpaved surfaces. It may be necessary to cross streets at certain locations. The current infrastructure improvement plans noted above should take approximately three months each phase to complete.

The Rivercross building stated that plans have been completed and capital allocated for their proposed electric to gas conversion of residential heating. If gas is available Rivercross would like to make the conversion in advance of the 2013 heating season. Rivercross stated it will remain on interruptible service after their conversion to gas heating.

The load letter submitted by the Rivercross building includes retail spaces and building residential heating. The Hudson Companies has separately submitted load letters for the retail spaces in the Rivercross building. The Rivercross load letter will be revised to omit the retail spaces and to indicate which equipment is installed for redundancy.

Cornell University representatives stated that they are planning to proceed with the geothermal heat pumps. Cornell University indicated that a second phase is planned in 2027. Previously Con Edison was only informed of a two phases, 2016 and 2037. Cornell University will provide additional details on the phase two loads.

The load letter for the Eastwood building (dated 7-23-12) submitted by the Hudson Companies contained loads for the Child School. The separately submitted load letters for the Child School (submitted 8-3-12) have different values that differ from the Eastwood Building load letter. The loads in the Child School specific load letter are to be used, instead of the loads submitted by the Hudson Companies to Con Edison for evaluating service needs.

In the event additional load letters are received requiring a significant volume of gas, it may become necessary to upgrade the gas system on Roosevelt Island to high pressure. This may include the installation of a new gas pipe from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island in the existing utility tunnel, upgrading all pressure regulators on Roosevelt Island, and upgrades of couplings. This process would me much more extensive and may take as long as a year and will be more expensive that the currently proposed medium pressure upgrades. If an upgrade to high pressure is required, a capital contribution may be required for the customers on Roosevelt Island as per the PSC tariff.

Action Items

• Rivercross to resubmit load their load letter omitting the retail spaces and indicating which equipment is installed for redundancy.

• Cornell University to resubmit their load letter indicating they will be pursuing the geothermal heat pumps and including 2027 loads.

• Con Edison to follow up with PS 217 to confirm their service date and plans to install equipment by the desired service date.

• Con Edison to finalize the completion date for phase two of the upgrade based on confirmed service date for all projects.

More information on Con Ed High Pressure gas issues available, including video of RIOC Operations Committee meeting discussions, here and here.

Con Ed's spokesperson added that the Roosevelt Island energy/ natural gas discussions are still in a very preliminary stage. RIOC declined any comment on the meeting.

In other Roosevelt Island energy news, Verdant Power installed its latest prototype water turbine in East River next to Roosevelt Island Gristedes Supermarket yesterday afternoon. The new turbine will undergo tests for the next two weeks.

Here ere are some scenes from yesterday's Verdant Turbine East River installation.

A barge brought the turbine to its location just north of the Roosevelt Island Bridge

the turbine was then lifted by crane

and placed in the East River.

Will have more on this next week, including video interview with Verdant President Trey Taylor who discusses future Roosevelt Island energy plans.

More on Verdant Power's Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy project from their web site here and from previous post.

UPDATE 9/6 - More on Verdant Power turbine installation including interview with Verdant President Trey Taylor here. 

Verdant Power President Trey Taylor Explains Roosevelt Island East River Turbine Energy Project - Did You Hear About The Windmill Energy Plan For Queensboro Bridge?

You Tube Video of Verdant Trey Taylor Interview at Renewable Energy World

More information on Verdant Power Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project and other Roosevelt Island energy issues at this previous post and let's not forget the possibility of NYC windmill power described in this earlier post about the Incredible Queensboro Bridge Wind Machine.

Video from Current TV.

Verdant Power Gets Approval To Proceed With Roosevelt Island East River Turbine Project - Comprehensive Green Energy Plan For Roosevelt Island Needed Says Former RIOC Director Jonathan Kalkin

You Tube Video Of Verdant Power East River Energy Project

An update on previous posts regarding Verdant Power Roosevelt Island East River Tidal Energy project. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced yesterday:

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today issued its first pilot project license for a tidal energy project located in New York City’s East River.

The project, owned by Verdant Power and known as the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project, is 1,050-kilowatts and uses the East River’s natural tidal currents to generate electricity. Turbine generator units are mounted on the riverbed and capture energy from the tidal flow. The pilot license issued to Verdant Power is for 10 years.

“Issuing a pilot license for an innovative technology is a major step in the effort to help our country meet our renewable energy goals,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said. “FERC’s pilot process is doing what it should: allow for exploration of new renewable technologies while protecting the environment.”

FERC developed the pilot license process in 2008 to allow developers to test new hydrokinetic technologies, to determine appropriate sites for these technologies and to confirm the technologies’ environmental effects without compromising FERC’s oversight....

According to Green Tech Media:

... About ten years in the making, the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) project is owned by Verdant Power and looks to mount turbines on the riverbed and use tidal currents to generate about a megawatt of electricity. The project will use up to 30 of Verdant's turbines, installed in stages.

The license allows Verdant Power to build out the RITE Project and to commercially deliver the energy generated by the turbines to local customers. Earlier phases of the project involved prototype testing from 2002 to 2006 and demonstration from 2006 to 2008. During the demonstration period, Verdant operated six full-scale turbines and delivered 70 megawatt-hours of energy to two end users in 9,000 turbine-hours of operation with no fouling or damage to the turbines from debris....

The RITE two end users were the Motorgate parking garage and Gristedes supermarket.

A few days prior to yesterday's Verdant RITE Project announcement, former Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Board Director Jonathan Kalkin shared these ideas regarding future Roosevelt Island energy usage:

Roosevelt Island needs a comprehensive green energy plan. The Island has grappled with many issues that threaten the purpose and mission of this place. Energy and how we use it is really something that we have saved for another day while some larger issues were addressed. However I believe we have reached a moment and an opportunity where we can dramatically change the lives of every resident on the Island. Long term affordable housing has been an issue on this Island since the Mitchell-Lama clock has started ticking. However, a long term affordable housing plan will not be able to overcome the reality that we heat, cool, and power our homes in an inefficient way.This is also bad for the environment and thanks to modern solutions completely unnecessary. This creates the scenario of an affordable home without affordable power. A person should not lose their home because they can’t afford their electric bill.

Currently, most buildings on Roosevelt Island use electricity to provide heat. This system uses electricity to heat a coil in your unit which then heats your apartment. At first this sounds like a good method, but it is very inefficient. In fact it is probably one of the most expensive and inefficient ways to heat your apartment. It is basically just like heating your apartment using a hair dryer. There are three major goals when using energy. First is to waste the least amount of energy to heat, light, and cool your home. The second goal is to do it in the cleanest way possible. The final goal, hopefully in pursuit of the first two goals, results in a lower utility bill. The good news is that on Roosevelt Island we have options to achieve all three goals.

We can achieve part of the first goal by producing our own energy. The hospitals on the island produce their own heat via the steam plant,

Image of Roosevelt Island Steam Plant From Michael Minn

the Octagon produces heat and electricity via a fuel cell and even Motorgate has become partially independent by using tidal energy. Most of the other buildings rely on electric heat and are at the mercy of whatever rate Con Edison charges for electricity. In the 1970’s electricity was cheap and so this may have made sense at the time. Now, electricity prices in New York are some of the most expensive in the country and having electric heat is the equivalent of taking showers with bottled water. The most efficient way to meet our energy goals would be to have a central energy source for the Island. Or, we could adopt the same method as the Octagon fuel cell and each building or set of buildings could have its own energy plant near the building.


The Octagon, A Case Study for Fuel Cells in Multi-Family Buildings from Bill Kavanagh on Vimeo.

The second way we can reduce energy waste would be to find another way to heat and cool our homes. One method that has worked in New York and in Europe is called district energy. This approach uses hot and cold water in pipes distributed throughout the building to warm and cool the apartments. This hot and cold water is generated at a centrally located plant that supplies several buildings.

The next step to achieve these goals would be to combine our heat and power production (CHP). Most power plants produce a large amount of excess heat during electricity production. Most of this heat is usually wasted, but if you distribute it throughout the island you now are producing electricity and powering your lights, perhaps running your air conditioning (if not using chilled water to do so) and heating your apartment mostly with the excess heat usually wasted in energy production.

You Tube Video on District Heating

Now this all seems very simple and will benefit both landlords and tenants and RIOC so why now and why hasn’t this come about before? Well, there are several things needed to move this forward. If we are using a distributed model where all the buildings have an energy source like the Octagon then each building can move at its own pace. However, the most efficient way would have some cooperation with RIOC and hopefully the new university that is coming to the Island. The good news is that Cornell has shown an interest in a green energy plan for the Island in their proposal and the RFP's 100 million dollar infrastructure plan talks about the natural gas and other energy changes that would be needed to sustain a world class university. This kind of infrastructure is crucial because we lack the natural gas supply to move this kind of project forward.

RIOC controls most of the land that can make this possible. The steam plant’s land is controlled by RIOC and this could be a great opportunity for RIOC to fulfill its development mission and affordable housing preservation goals at the same time. The university could simply provide the infrastructure and oversight of the project and would have to make just minor changes to its natural gas expansion plans. This energy plan could be supplemented by renewable and experimental projects (Solar, Geothermal) from the university in addition to our own like tidal energy.

Even if a university did not come to the Island, we should not ignore this opportunity. The landlords want to reduce their energy costs. Tenants need this to happen to preserve affordability. And, RIOC has the chance to fulfill its mission and purpose on the island. This is our moment to lead.

According to Fast Company Co Design, the Cornell Technion Roosevelt Island campus will have a net zero energy footprint:

... Net-zero energy would be achieved by sipping power from a 150,000-square-foot photovoltaic array (the largest in NYC, the architects say) and geothermal wells. It would also draw on passive heating and cooling strategies. “The [zig-zagging] layouts have to do with harvesting daylight and mitigating heat gain,” SOM partner Roger Duffy says. A caveat: The net-zero goal would be confined to the campus’s academic architecture. That’s because, as SOM’s Colin Koop explains, PVs aren’t efficient enough to generate adequate energy for proposed housing units and a hotel. Those structures would earn LEED Silver certification....

Proposed Cornell Energy Usage Image From Fastcodesign

The Cornell Chronicle adds:

... The campus's planned solar array will generate 1.8 megawatts at daily peak -- the largest such array in New York City. A four-acre geothermal well field -- composed of deep-earth wells -- exceeds any current geothermal heating system in New York City....

... the campus will take full advantage of power from the sun. It has been designed to face solar south, and its buildings will be situated to avoid shading each other. Electrical power from a fuel cell will further reduce the impact of the campus on the supply-limited electric grid.

The structures will be heated and cooled by a central, geothermal heat pump system, which provides heat more efficiently than boilers or electricity. Heat generated by the fuel cell will also be gleaned to supplement the non-academic campus needs, for added economy and energy savings.

The geothermal system -- an array of 400 wells spread out over four acres -- will use 500-foot deep holes to extract heat from the earth to warm buildings in the winter. During the summer, the system will transfer excess heat from inside the buildings back into the ground to provide air conditioning....

Roosevelt Island may be leading the way for clean, affordable energy.

UPDATE 6:30 PM - On the Verdant RITE project, DNA Info adds:

... Those six turbines produced energy that powered a Gristedes and a parking garage on Roosevelt Island. It has not yet been determined what the expanded grid of turbines will power, Taylor said, suggesting that some of it could power electric car stations inside Roosevelt Island's parking garages.

He also is looking forward to collaborating on research and design with faculty from Cornell University's new tech campus coming to Roosevelt Island. He's already had discussions with the school, he said.

Click here for entire DNA Info article.

UPDATE 2/2 - Roosevelt Island resident Trevre Andrews sends in this illustration of NYC Power Consumption.

According to Modi Research Group:

The map represents the total annual building energy consumption at the block level (zoom levels 11-15) and at the taxlot level (zoom levels 16-18) for New York City, and is expressed in kilowatt hours (k Wh) per square meter of land area. The data comes from a mathematical model based on statistics, not private information from utilities, to estimate the annual energy consumption values of buildings throughout the five boroughs. To see the break down of the type of energy being used, for which purpose and in what quantity, hover over or click on a block or taxlot.

Click here for the interactive map and Roosevelt Island power consumptions statistics.

RIOC Board Operations Committee Meeting Tomorrow On Verdant Power East River Update, Red Bus, Blackwell Park Playground & Public Purpose Fund

You Tube Video of Verdant Power On Water Power

The RIOC Board Operations Committee will be meeting tomorrow. The agenda is below and is open to the public.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a meeting of the Operations Advisory Committee of the RIOC Board of Directors will be held on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at the RIOC administrative office, 591 Main Street, Roosevelt Island, New York. The Committee will meet to:

1. receive an update on the Verdant Power Project;
2. discuss the red bus operation;
3. discuss the development of the Blackwell Park playground; and
4. discuss the Public Purpose Fund procedures.

Soon thereafter the webcast of the meeting will be available on the RIOC web site.

Climate Crunch has the latest on Verdant Power's Roosevelt Island East River project:

Marine renewable energy solutions company Verdant Power is currently in the process of optimising its technology for commercial distribution.
In May this year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a public notice stating that it concluded the pre-filing process related to Verdant Power’s application for a commercial license. The next step in the application process for Verdant Power was to submit its final license application. The company has been seeking license to commercially develop the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project.

“We have applied for our commercial license with the FERC, which we expect to receive in early 2010,” says Trey Taylor, co-founder & president of the New York-based privately held company.
This will be for the beginning of Verdant’s Third Phase – commercial build-out – starting with 1 MW of installed capacity....

Latest Generation Verdant Power Turbine Being Placed in East Channel of East River

Dick Lutz of the Main Street WIRE forwards this picture taken Monday morning of Verdant Power dropping it's latest generation of water turbine into the East Channel of the East River. Currently, this experimental renewable energy source utilizes the power of the East River tides to supply electricity for the Gristedes supermarket and Motorgate Parking garage on Roosevelt Island. More on Verdant Power here.

Mayor Bloomberg Seeking Windmills for NYC Bridges and Buildings - Start With the Incredible Queensboro Bridge Wind Machine!

Image of windmill on top of Empire State Building from NY Post

Mayor Bloomberg's Plan NYC 2030 initiative for a more sustainable, green and energy efficient New York City tookanother step forward with the announcement that the City is seeking:

expressions of interest from firms with experience implementing renewable energy projects, as well as other interested parties. Specifically, the City seeks to gather information on potential renewable energy projects that advance PlaNYC goals and accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The information gathered from this RFEI will be used to identify promising renewable energy projects for New York City and to provide a better understanding of the opportunities for both established and emerging renewable energy technologies.

According to the NY Post:

Forget Chicago.New York would claim title as the genuine "Windy City" under a dramatic proposal by Mayor Bloomberg yesterday to develop wind turbines atop the Big Apple's bridges and skyscrapers.

Adds the NY Times:

Mr. Bloomberg said he would ask private companies and investors to study how windmills can be built across the city, with the aim of weaning it off the nation’s overtaxed power grid, which has produced several crippling blackouts in New York over the last decade.

Mr. Bloomberg did not specify which skyscrapers and bridges would be candidates for windmills, and city officials would need to work with property owners to identify the buildings that would best be able to hold the equipment.

But aides said that for offshore locations, the city was eyeing the generally windy coast off Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island for turbines that could generate 10 percent of the city’s electricity needs within 10 years.

Let's start bringing windmill power to New York City with the Incredible Queensboro Bridge Wind Machine introduced in this earlier post. Video from Current TV.

Also, let's not forgot the Verdant Power underwater turbine project in the East River just off of Roosevelt Island. Video from Current TV.


As mentioned in the Verdant video, fish may have to be careful around Roosevelt Island in the future to avoid being chopped up and sliced by the water turbines as will birds if the windmills are ever built.

UPDATE - 8/21: NY Times reports that architects and engineers express great doubts on feasibility of wind power for New York City but that solar power has great possibilities.

UPDATE - 8/23: NY Times reports on Verdant Power's third try at installing water turbines in the East River.

...Imagine a field of windmills, but underwater. Instead of making power only when the wind blows, they would run according to the tide charts, as predictable as the phases of the moon. The East River — not a real river, but a tidal strait connecting Long Island Sound to Upper New York Bay — is famous for currents so strong that sailboats must wait for the tide to turn in their favor.

Those currents ate up the first two generations of turbines, installed by Verdant Power, a small private company, in late 2006 and early 2007. The only way inventors can make anything work is to see how it doesn’t work. And in the saga of the East River turbines, there is already a sharp lesson on the risks of giving up too soon....