United Water Plans Hydro Plant at Dundee Dam

Company Decided to Develop a Small Hydroelectric Power Plant to Produce Enough Power to Supply 1,000 Homes

The company will seek bids from hydropower developers to build turbines and run the facility at the dam, which stretches across the Passaic River from Garfield to Clifton.

United Water, a co-owner of the dam, would sign a multiyear lease with the winning hydropower company. The hydropower company would then collect the revenue generated by selling the electricity to the regional grid. The company could also receive financial clean energy credits from the state.

"This is a great environmental sustainability story," said Steve Goudsmith, a United Water spokesman. "We believe this is not only an untapped renewable resource but attractive to hydro developers," said Goudsmith.

The facility would become one of only a handful of hydroelectric facilities in New Jersey and mesh with Governor Christie's goal of generating 70 percent of the state's electricity through clean sources — such as wind, solar and hydro — by 2050.

Another company had operated a hydroelectric facility at the Dundee Dam in the 1980s, but it did not succeed financially and was shut down. At the time, the facility drew the ire of local residents and officials because the flow of river water was diverted to run the turbines, and the equipment was loud. The water running over the dam slowed to a trickle, and mayors complained that the scenic spot had become a stagnant pool filled with dead fish that attracted rodents and smelled like a sewer.

United Water will stipulate in its lease that the hydro company must maintain a flow of water over the dam to ensure aesthetic qualities and for environmental reasons, Goudsmith said.

The lease would also require that the turbines operate at a low decibel level. Newer technology helps turbines run more quietly than the ones that irritated Garfield and Clifton residents in the 1980s, he said.

The hydropower company would install the turbines but would not need to add much other equipment, since the infrastructure to hook up to the regional grid already exists, Goudsmith said.

Source: North Jersey

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