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American Tissue Dam
Before Rehabilitation by Swift River
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Swift River's Mission
Swift River Company (SRC) develops renewable energy resources. As project
manager, Swift River provides the specialized skills, experience and financing to build
and operate hydro in New England. SRC brings all aspects of project
development under one management.
Since 1983, Swift River has managed the Sebec
and Collins hydro projects. After 25 years, SRC sold Sebec in order to
consolidate its operations in central Massachusetts. Three energy projects developed by SRC in
early years were sold to Consolidated Hydro Inc. (CHI) and ten other
projects were sold to Swift River/Hafslund
(see Prior Projects). However, in
June 2001, Swift River purchased
two operating hydro projects from
International Paper Company (IPC). Woronoco Hydro
is located on the Westfield River in Russell, MA and Turners Falls
Hydro draws its Connecticut River flow from the canal at Turners Falls,
MA. For this acquisition, SRC formed
Swift River Hydro Operations (SRHOCO) by merging with D. Hobbs Contracting Inc.
(DHC) to rehab
these units and to operate and maintain all of SRC's small hydro
projects. Additional capacity was
then designed and installed at
the Woronoco Hydro site with a
renewed FERC license issued in 2002. Power from
Woronoco and Turners Falls Hydro is sold as "green
energy" to ISO-New England and RECs are sold to
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) and the regional REC market.
In September 2001, SRHOCO
acquired D. Hobbs Contracting to bring
experienced design and hydro rehab skills to operate
and maintain other SRC and SRHOCO projects.
SRHOCO was expanded by acquiring two former hydro operating companies that
were badly in need of rehabilitation. In May 2004, SRHOCO bought the former
hydro plant at the Pepperell Paper Company on the Nashua River and
formalized its ownership in the Indian River Power Supply project located on
the Westfield River just upstream of the Woronoco Hydro site. That
project is the abandoned hydro plant that until 1994 powered the Westfield
River Paper Company for nearly a century. The award by the Massachusetts
Technology Collaborative (MTC) of a 10-year contract to purchase the
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from Pepperell Hydro Company led to
successful financing by an $861,000 loan that was used to completely repower and automate
the hydro facility built in 1917. Without a REC sales contract for Indian
River, the best that could be done would be to put 300 kW back on line.
However, Indian River won a 10-year contract to sell RECs, which financed
expansion to 1,450 kW and full environmental permitting IRPS as a run of river
hydro facility. |
Sebec Powerhouse in winter 2000
before it was sold in 2007 |
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The
merger of DHC with SRHOCO expanded
Swift River's operations, maintenance and rehabilitation capabilities
for managing and operating new hydro plants. William K. Fay, SRHOCO's
President, is a licensed hydro engineer who
has inspected 60 dams for the Massachusetts Dam Safety Division and is
authorized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to perform
Part 12 inspections of licensed hydropower facilities. He and Davis
Hobbs have rebuilt many hydro turbines for plants located throughout New
England. See
SRHOCO's history. To continue this business, Bill's brother
Warren, a master machinist, has expanded SRHOCO's capabilities by building a
machine shop to refurbish hydro equipment at the Company's headquarters in
Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Davis Hobbs is General Manager of SRHOCO.
The company operates 5 hydro plants and rehabilitates old powerhouses with
their original equipment when it is uneconomic to replace it with more efficient
hydro equipment.
Woronoco Hydro's original equipment was rebuilt, capacities
increased, and fully automated for remote control. SRHOCO has the tools, equipment and shop facilities
to fabricate and repair hydroelectric equipment,
regardless of its age or design.
Woronoco Powerhouse
Before Rehabilitation by SRHOCO
.jpg)
Woronoco Powerhouse
After Rehabilitation by SRHOCO
Swift River is one of a few surviving small power producers in New
England. As the large electric companies have sold their
generating equipment, most of the smaller private generators have sold their
projects or gone out of business. Swift River is now ready to buy
licensed projects from industries who are shutting down their mills or other
private developers who no longer wish to compete in the wholesale
market for green renewable energy.
SRC formed a trading company to join NEPOOL and to own
and manage capacity payments and REC sales for its own account and for other
clients. A trained operating staff with low overhead
cost is the
only way to compete against the large subsidiaries of
electric utilities now buying
up the generating capacity of New England. Natural gas-fired turbines
were thought to be the least cost energy
technology for the region, but this has changed because
international oil prices
remain high and the price of natural gas has
risen.
We believe that stranded costs will be reduced to negligible values as
regional electric prices rise due to international fuel cost escalation. New
England's comparative advantage in renewable energy like hydro and wood will
soon be re-established to provide low cost energy for power generation.
Wind, biogas and landfill gas my be new renewable
energy technologies, but a balanced
portfolio is still key to stable electricity prices. |
Turners Falls Hydro's GE Generator for vertical Francis
turbine |
Contact Information
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