FERC on Thursday affirmed its denial to extend the 10-year pilot license for what could be the country’s first commercial project for producing tidal power (P-12611-011).

Verdant Power’s proposed 1,050-kW Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project on New York’s East River was previously issued a FERC pilot license for 2012-2021.

Last December, the company requested an extension until 2026 to “acquire operational monitoring data” on the hydrokinetic pilot project, contending the technology involved is not at “commercial readiness.” Commission staff denied the extension request in May, saying that “barring extraordinary circumstances, 10 years should be enough time to complete a testing program and to make a decision on whether to file an application for a build-out license.”

Verdant requested a rehearing on the grounds that there is no prescribed timespan for pilot licenses and no stakeholders made “credible” objections to the extension request. New York environmental nonprofit Riverkeeper expressed concerns about protecting the endangered Atlantic sturgeon and requested use of a fish-friendly turbine design.

But FERC stuck with staff, saying Verdant still has more than 16 months before the company must file a final license application “to continue testing its technology and [acquire] additional data.”

FERC said in a 2008 white paper that an ideal hydrokinetic pilot project would be “small, short-term and located in environmentally non-sensitive areas.” In its order, the commission pointed out that the Roosevelt Island project already has double the recommended five-year pilot license time suggested in that white paper.

“If we were to accept Verdant’s argument, there is no indication that even 15 years would be a sufficient amount of time to determine whether to file an application for relicensing,” FERC added.

— Amanda Durish Cook