River Power Rises

By Mark Hequet

Wayne Krouse has a seductive idea: dam-free hydropower. In a year, his start-up, Hydro Green Energy of Houston, plans to have a pair of turbines pumping electricity from under the Mississippi River at Hastings, Minn.--a town willing to give a new idea a try. "Everybody likes a science experiment, and this is just a big science experiment," says Tom Montgomery, Hastings' public-works director. The barge-mounted turbines will be unconventional, but Krouse's design yields twice the energy of earlier versions--and doesn't require new dams, which take years to license.

Krouse claims that a dozen of his generators on riverbeds in fast-moving water could produce up to 250 MW, as much electricity as a small coal-fired plant--without the greenhouse-gas emissions. On a smaller scale, the same technology could power homes, clinics or schools in remote villages. "It has the potential to change millions of people's lives," says Krouse.

Not so fast, Aquaman. Regulators and environmentalists want a long look at dam-free hydro. Krouse knows that what he calls the "sushi problem"--turbines slashing passing fish--will be a big concern. He says fish whacks will be minimal.

Alternative-energy developers are studying numerous small hydro projects, mostly along the coasts. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued 11 three-year "preliminary permits" for hydro, with installations at locations including Puget Sound in Washington, San Francisco's Golden Gate and New York City's East River. An additional 38 applications are pending. Hydro developer Verdant Power Inc. already has fish-monitoring equipment in the East River, with plans to install two turbines in November and four more early next year.

Such coastal projects harness the tides. Krouse will dip his turbines in the Mississippi 1,000 miles from the sea to end-run the regulatory coastal maze that hydro developers face. Krouse thinks he can move quickly by piggybacking his project on the city of Hastings' existing FERC hydropower license.

The Hastings project underscores the potential for inland dam-free hydropower--30,000 MW, roughly 10% of existing U.S. coal-burner capacity, according to U.S. Department of Energy estimates. The green lobby, which fights dams, is not yet sure what to make of dam-free hydro, but it is wary. True, you can pull a turbine out of the water if things go badly--but "you don't just put one turbine in the water," says Robbin Marks of American Rivers. "To generate a fair amount of electricity, you have to put in hundreds. We really don't know what the cumulative impacts are."

That means waiting--which the former Exxon chemical engineer doesn't like to do. Peers at Exxon dubbed Krouse "Iceman" because the Natchez, Miss., native once traveled to Naperville, Ill., in December for training that could have waited until spring. Eventually, in 2001, Krouse says, he was fired for pushing a pet chemical-engineering project too hard.

By now, Krouse knows that patience is a virtue. Getting his propellers in the water will be a big moment--for him and maybe for the U.S.'s energy future. o