New York's East River promises rising tide for Verdant Power

New York's East River could be the rather unlikely setting for the US's first commercial-scale tidal power plant, if a proposal to install 30 turbines on the river bed is approved.

Verdant Power submitted an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this week, which if approved would make it the only tidal energy system in the US licensed to transmit energy to the grid.

The proposal is effectively an expansion of Verdant's successful two-year trial of six turbines just off Roosevelt Island. From 2006 to 2008, the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy project delivered 70MWh of electricity to two local businesses over 9,000 hours of running time.

However, the project experienced a number of setbacks. The East River, infamously a last resting place for New York's gangsters, is technically a tidal strait and strong currents broke off some of the turbine tips.

Verdant said its new turbines, made of carbon epoxy composite and partially funded by the US government, would be more reliable, cheaper and have no impact on local marine life. It aims to begin installation of the new turbines in the autumn.

"We are extremely excited about the submission of this licence application," said Ron Smith, chief executive of Verdant Power, in a statement. "It represents the culmination of nearly a decade of work undertaken by Verdant Power and a variety of project stakeholders to add tidal power to the US clean energy mix."