Abstract
The Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Environmental Assessment Project (NYSERDA Agreement No. 20802) was the environmental assessment of a pilot demonstration of Verdant Power’s generation (Gen5) Kinetic Hydropower System (KHPS) in New York City’s East River under the RITE Project. The project included ongoing implementation of regulatory compliance and environmental monitoring in accordance with issued permits and licenses, including a Hydrokinetic Pilot Project License issued in 2012 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) (License No. P-12611).
In this project, Verdant Power conducted environmental monitoring focused on applying methods and results to the FERC-licensed RITE Project, with data collected under a set of FERC-approved monitoring plans, known as the RITE Monitoring of Environmental Effects (RMEE) Plans. The information and protocols developed under this project and the ensuing adaptive management successes are available to support the development of hydrokinetic generation at other sites in New York State and beyond.