2020-00921. Verdant Power, LLC; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a Deadline for Submission of Final Amendments

Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.

a. Type of Application: Subsequent Minor License.

b. Project No.: 12611-014.

c. Date Filed: December 30, 2019.

d. Applicant: Verdant Power, LLC.

e. Name of Project: Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project.

f. Location: On the East River in New York County, New York. The project does not occupy federal land.

g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825 (r).

h. Applicant Contact: Mr. Ronald F. Smith, President and Chief Operating Officer, Verdant Power, LLC, P.O. Box 282, Roosevelt Island, New York, New York 10044. Phone: [phone]. Email: [e-mail].

i. FERC Contact: Andy Bernick at [phone]; or email at [e-mail].

j. Cooperating agencies: Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to environmental issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the environmental document should follow the instructions for filing such requests described in item l below. Cooperating agencies should note the Commission's policy that agencies that cooperate in the preparation of the environmental document cannot also intervene. See, 94 FERC ¶ 61,076 (2001).

k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's regulations, if any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person believes that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the application on its merit, the resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person must file a request for a study with the Commission not later than 60 days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of the request on the applicant.

l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status: February 28, 2020.

The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status using the Commission's eFiling system at http://www.ferc.gov/​docs-filing/​efiling.asp. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at [e-mail], [phone] (toll free), or [phone] (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, please send a paper copy to: Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. The first page of any filing should include docket number P-12611-014.

m. This application is not ready for environmental analysis at this time.

n. The existing pilot project license authorizes the following project facilities: (a) Thirty 35-kilowatt, 5-meter-diameter axial flow turbine-generator units; (b) ten triframe mounts, each supporting three turbine-generator units; (c) 480-volt underwater cables from each triframe mount to five shoreline switchgear vaults that interconnect to a control room and interconnection points; and (d) appurtenant facilities for navigation safety and operation.

Under the current pilot project license, which expires on December 31, 2021, Verdant installed, tested, and then removed a total of five turbine-generator units. Verdant also proposes to install three turbine-generator units attached to one tri-frame mount in 2020, under the existing pilot project license.

The proposed project would consist of a maximum of fifteen 35-kilowatt, 5-meter-diameter axial flow turbine-generator units with a total installed capacity of 0.525 megawatt, with underwater cables connecting five triframe mounts to two shoreline switchgear vaults. The project would operate using the natural tidal currents of the East River, during both ebb and flood tidal periods. As the direction of tidal flow changes, each turbine-generator unit would rotate (or yaw) to align the rotor to the direction of flow, through a passive system caused by hydrodynamic forces on the turbine-generator unit. The annual generation is expected to be from 840 to 1,200 megawatt-hours.

o. A copy of the application is available for review at the Commission in the Public Reference Room or may be viewed on the Commission's website at http://www.ferc.gov using the “eLibrary” link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support. A copy is also available for inspection and reproduction at the address in item h above.

You may also register online at http://www.ferc.gov/​docs-filing/​esubscription.asp to be notified via email of new filings and issuances related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support.

p. Procedural schedule and final amendments: The application will be processed according to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions to the schedule will be made as appropriate.

Issue Deficiency Letter (if necessary)—March 2020

Request Additional Information—2020 March

Issue Acceptance Letter—2020 June

Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments—July 2020

Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary)—2020 September

Issue notice of ready for environmental analysis—2020 September

Issue Single EA—2021 March

Comments on EA—2021 April

Final amendments to the application must be filed with the Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice of ready for environmental analysis.

Dated: January 14, 2020.

Kimberly D. Bose,

Secretary.