Proposed underwater turbine power generator project for Niagara River near Unity Island [Video]

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A unique underwater turbine power generation project is now proposed for the Niagara River in Buffalo by a company based in Maine.

But some residents here in Western New York are raising questions about the impact on the river and its wildlife. 

2 On Your Side spoke with the company behind it and a local group which may seek to see it placed somewhere else. 

A U.S. Department of Energy video depicts installation in a stream in Maine last year of the underwater turbine power generators which may look to some like the old push lawnmower reels. This device uses what the Ocean Renewable Energy Company calls tipped foils which rotate with the water flow to create power,

Nathan Johnson is the Vice President of Development for ORPC, as it is known, and he explains, “There’s two turbines that are put together and those turbines – the …