National Grid’s five Long Island power plants can collectively withdraw nearly two billion gallons of coastal water each day for their cooling systems. Annually, these five plants draw in and kill more than 10 billion young hatched fish, fish eggs and larvae, and trap, injure and, in many cases kill 400,000 larger fish on intake screens. The next generations of aquatic life are continually destroyed by these power plant withdrawals, undermining recovery of the region’s coastal ecosystems and diminishing a significant source of food for numerous marine species.
The New York state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently released draft permits that would require two of National Grid's Long Island power plants to reduce the number of fish killed and injured. The DEC will release draft permits for the remaining three plants over the next year or so.
Entrainment: Takes place when small organisms, such as eggs and larvae, are sucked into a power plant’s cooling system along with the massive withdrawal of cooling waters from a water body.
Impingement: Occurs when larger fish (and other aquatic organisms) are trapped against the screens that filter large debris from the intake structures during cooling water withdrawal.
Once-Through Cooling: Water is drawn into the power plant from a local body of water to absorb heat and is then discharged back into the water body at an elevated temperature.
Closed-Cycle Cooling: In a closed-cycle wet cooling system, cooling water is circulated first through the plant to absorb heat, then through cooling cells to evaporate heat to the atmosphere and condense steam back to liquid to be recirculated through the plant. A closed-cycle dry cooling system uses radiator-type coils to transfer heat to air passing over the coils.
For more information contact:
Kyle Rabin, Director Peter Hanlon, Research and Policy Analyst Tel: 212-726-9161 info@NewEnergyChoices.org
