Company files with FERC to study river turbines

MISSISSIPPI RIVER — A company continues to study the feasibility of putting power-generating turbines in the Mississippi River.

Free Flow Power, a Boston-based company, has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a preliminary permit to study the feasibility of a hydropower project near Concordia Parish, La.

Daniel Lissner with Free Flow Power tells The Natchez Democrat the application is essentially for the extension of previous permits the company has been granted.

The company has been in the process of studying the site, which it calls the St. Catherine Bend hydrokinetic project, for some time.

The feasibility study would determine if up to 6,382 underwater power-generating turbines could be installed on the bottom of the river. The study will also consider the feasibility of infrastructure like transmission lines.