Silver Lake Daily Newsletter.com

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Special By Ben Beagle and Brian Quinn, news@batavianews.com:
Construction begins on Plug Power hydrogen facility in center of GLOW region in the Town of Alabama

Gov. Kathy Hochul was in Genesee County Wednesday morning, October 20th, to announce the start of construction for the Plug Power hydrogen fuel facility in the Science, Technology, and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP), 6840 Crosby Rd., Alabama. The $290 million project includes an electricity substation and state-of-the-art hydrogen fuel facility. The project would be the largest green hydrogen plant in North America, according to the governor’s office.

“This groundbreaking is incredibly significant for the economies of the Finger Lakes and Western New York, providing new jobs and establishing the region as a prime destination for large manufacturers moving forward,” Hochul said. “Plug Power’s new facility will be the largest plant in North America producing green hydrogen, advancing our ambitious green energy goals as we work toward a cleaner future.”

Plug Power is slated to be the first tenant in the manufacturing park, which has been in development for about 15 years. A previous project, a solar manufacturing facility, withdrew in 2018 before breaking ground.

Plug Power’s production facility will produce 45 metric tons of green liquid hydrogen daily that will serve the northeast. The hydrogen is sold to customers to replace fossil fuels in on-road applications such as heavy-duty freight and forklifts. The company’s customers include: Amazon, Walmart, Wegmans, GM, Home Depot, Lowe’s, IKEA and Ace Hardware.

The company has also committed to creating up to 68 new jobs, with an average annual salary of $70,000. Plug Power is also funding the construction of a 450-megawatt electricity substation that will support its production facility and allow for future growth opportunities at the STAMP site.

“Plug Power is proud to be the leaders building the green hydrogen economy, creating jobs right here in our home state of New York,” Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh said. “By 2025, our cross-continental green hydrogen network aims to supply 500 tons per day, and 1,000 tons per day globally by 2028. We thank our elected officials and partners for their leadership.”

The siting of the manufacturing park and Plug Power’s decision to locate to Genesee County was driven by access to low-cost hydropower from the New York Power Authority’s Niagara Power Project less than 30 miles away.

The Power Authority is supporting Plug Power with several incentives. The incentives include:
■ A 10-megawatt allocation of low-cost hydropower from the Niagara Power Project.
■ $1.5 million from the Western New York Power Proceeds program.
■ 143 MW of High-Load Factor power that NYPA will procure for Plug Power on the energy market, drastically lowering electric bills through a reduction in electricity delivery chargers.

Empire State Development is also supporting the project with up to $2 million in Excelsior Tax Credits in exchange for job creation commitments.

Genesee County is also providing assistance for the project. Under the terms of a 20-year PILOT agreement, Plug Power will pay about $2.3 million annually to support local municipalities and infrastructure, including Genesee County, the town of Alabama, and the Oakfield-Alabama Central School District.

“We will continue to see the benefits from investments made here in Genesee County and STAMP,” said Genesee County Legislature Chairwoman Rochelle M. Stein. “Companies hire from our own backyard, people are moving to and staying in our area, and our economy has a direct impact from companies such as Plug Power coming into our community. I am excited to see Genesee County thrive for years to come. This would not be possible without Governor Hochul’s leadership, Plug Power’s innovation, STAMP’s qualities, and Genesee County’s people for creating an ideal scenario to advance this project and jobs for our kids. Thank you all for your hard work.”

“We will continue to see the benefits from investments made here in Genesee County and STAMP,” said Genesee County Legislature Chairwoman Rochelle M. Stein. “Companies hire from our own backyard, people are moving to and staying in our area, and our economy has a direct impact from companies such as Plug Power coming into our community. I am excited to see Genesee County thrive for years to come. This would not be possible without Governor Hochul’s leadership, Plug Power’s innovation, STAMP’s qualities, and Genesee County’s people for creating an ideal scenario to advance this project and jobs for our kids. Thank you all for your hard work.”

“We will continue to see the benefits from investments made here in Genesee County and STAMP,” said Genesee County Legislature Chairwoman Rochelle M. Stein. “Companies hire from our own backyard, people are moving to and staying in our area, and our economy has a direct impact from companies such as Plug Power coming into our community. I am excited to see Genesee County thrive for years to come. This would not be possible without Governor Hochul’s leadership, Plug Power’s innovation, STAMP’s qualities, and Genesee County’s people for creating an ideal scenario to advance this project and jobs for our kids. Thank you all for your hard work.”

“We will continue to see the benefits from investments made here in Genesee County and STAMP,” said Genesee County Legislature Chairwoman Rochelle M. Stein. “Companies hire from our own backyard, people are moving to and staying in our area, and our economy has a direct impact from companies such as Plug Power coming into our community. I am excited to see Genesee County thrive for years to come. This would not be possible without Governor Hochul’s leadership, Plug Power’s innovation, STAMP’s qualities, and Genesee County’s people for creating an ideal scenario to advance this project and jobs for our kids. Thank you all for your hard work.”

“We will continue to see the benefits from investments made here in Genesee County and STAMP,” said Genesee County Legislature Chairwoman Rochelle M. Stein. “Companies hire from our own backyard, people are moving to and staying in our area, and our economy has a direct impact from companies such as Plug Power coming into our community. I am excited to see Genesee County thrive for years to come. This would not be possible without Governor Hochul’s leadership, Plug Power’s innovation, STAMP’s qualities, and Genesee County’s people for creating an ideal scenario to advance this project and jobs for our kids. Thank you all for your hard work.”

STAMP has been validated as a regional priority project by the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council and has been supported by local, regional, and state governments, as well as business, university, and utility partners.

“Plug Power’s groundbreaking at STAMP marks a major step in a multiyear process,” said state Sen. Ed Rath, R-Williamsville. “I want to applaud Genesee County Economic Development Corporation, Genesee County, the Town of Alabama and the many Economic Development officials across the region who made this a reality. Success breeds success and I’m confident that Plug Power’s investment in our community will serve as a catalyst to future investment and expansion at STAMP and across the entire region.”

Added Assemblymember Stephen Hawley, R-Batavia: “Finally seeing ground break for such an ambitious and innovative project at STAMP, and one that will provide at least 68 jobs to residents, should fill us all with pride and hope for the future of industry in New York. The clean energy production this facility aims to achieve could certainly be leveraged to springboard and inspire even more high-tech startups at STAMP to plant their roots here in Western New York.”

The Plug Power expansion is part of its plan to construct up to seven hydrogen production facilities across North America by 2022. In January, Plug Power announced that it would be establishing a $125 million Innovation Center in Monroe County, creating 377 new jobs. That facility will manufacture hydrogen fuel cell stacks for its ProGen hydrogen fuel cell engines used to power a variety of electric vehicles, including material handling equipment, on-road commercial fleet vehicles, and drones. The company also operates a facility in Rochester’s Eastman Business Park and maintains its headquarters in the Capital Region.

STAMP is a 1,250-acre mega site with a history that goes back to 2006 when New York State began a search to identify sites for large-scale manufacturing parks that would target up-and-coming technology. In 2007, the STAMP site in the town of Alabama was identified as a location that could provide for such a park. Site design followed and in 2014 infrastructure design, engineering and construction launched with the allocation of $33 million by New York state.

STAMP has completed all site-level design and engineering, and all-site level environmental and zoning approvals to locate projects, including semiconductor manufacturing, renewables manufacturing, biopharma manufacturing, and other high-capacity industries.

A previous project, 1366 Technologies was poised to be the park’s first tenant when the company and GCEDC officials announced on Oct. 7, 2015, plans for a $700 million solar manufacturing facility on 105 acres of the 1,250-acre park. At the time of the announcement, the project had planned to break ground in 2016 and be completed in 2017 or 2018.

But in 2018, with ground not broken, the Massachusetts-based company withdrew the project after efforts to secure a $150 million federal Department of Energy loan were withdraw. The loan request, which dated back to 2011 and the project’s earliest stages, had not progressed within the agency. The uncertainty of the federal request spurred the company decision to withdraw and seek to develop the project overseas, the company’s CEO said at the time in a statement to The Daily News.

GCEDC officials acknowledged at the time disappointment in the company’s decision, while noting marketing changes in the industries the park was targeting and the risks in capitalizing such costly projects.

The 1366 Technologies project did provide a catalyst for infrastructure development at the park, which has been the subject of significant speculation this year after reports in the Wall Street Journal that it was one of five sites in the United States that Samsung Electronics Co. was considering for a new semiconductor plant. Other reports have mentioned the STAMP site as a possible warehouse location for Amazon.