Green Daily

In terms of sheer water flow, the Mississippi River is the most powerful river in the US. Now, an energy startup called Free Flow Power hopes that it will become the most powerful in another capacity -- electricity generation. The Massachusetts company is working on a $3 billion plan to put thousands of hydro-electric turbines in the mighty Mississippi. They just have to get the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on board.

Free Flow Power has secured a 3-year permits to study 59 prospective sites up and down the river to find an ideal location. If they can bring the plan into fruition, their turbines could bring 1,600MW of new electricity onto the grid -- enough to power about 1.5 million homes. According to Free Flow Power's chief executive:

"Necessity is the mother of invention, and what's really driving this is the need to develop alternatives to fossil fuels."

That may be true, but the FERC is still weary about the environmental impact of putting thousands turbines into the river -- each is about 2 feet in diameter. The cost of the project is another hurdle, being more expensive to produce than a conventional hydro plant. Still, Free Flow Power hopes to keep the price comparable to fossil fuel burning projects.

[via Earth2Tech]