New York Construction News staff writer
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has approved economic development awards to three firms in an effort to create more than $508 million in capital investments and create 205 jobs.
At this week’s meeting, the NYPA board approved a 50-megawatt (MW) low-cost Niagara hydropower allocation to Plug Power, located at the Genesee County’s Science, Technology & Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP), to support the firm’s $387 million green hydrogen fuel production expansion project that will lead to the creation of 19 additional jobs at the location. Construction has started on the $290 million green hydrogen fuel production facility at the site that was announced in 2021. The expansion project will increase the capacity of the planned hydrogen production from an estimated 45 tons per day to 74 tons per day. The NYPA board also approved an additional 62 MW of High Load Factor power that NYPA will procure for Plug Power on the energy market.
The Power Authority supports Plug Power at three other locations: Slingerlands, which completed construction in January, Latham, and West Henrietta. In total, NYPA supports Plug Power with 272 MW of low-cost power, supporting more than 2,100 jobs throughout the state.
The NYPA also approved a 16 MW allocation of low-cost Niagara hydropower to EnerPlate, a Niagara Falls-based company that provides electroplating services for use in the manufacturing of grid-scale battery systems. The firm will invest more than $105 million to refurbish its recently purchased 90,000 square-foot facility and procurement of equipment for electroplating—a process that produces a metal coating on substrates, or base materials such as copper or tungsten, to improve properties like electrical conductivity.
Also approved was a 320 kilowatts of low-cost St. Lawrence hydropower to CWT, which is building a new egg hatchery in Watertown. The firm will invest $16 million in the construction of a 47,000 sq. ft. hatchery to support an additional product line for baby chicks. The expansion project will help CWT serve its Canadian and northeastern U.S. customers and create 26 jobs in the North Country.
Low-cost Niagara hydropower is available for companies within a 30-mile radius of the Power Authority’s Niagara Power Project or businesses in Chautauqua County.
Preservation Power is comprised of 490 megawatts of competitively priced hydropower generated at the St. Lawrence Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project that may be allocated to eligible businesses located in the Franklin, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties of New York State.
