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Plug
Power continues to plug away at hydrogen plant under construction,
hopes to finish by second half of 2023
At the groundbreaking a year ago it
was announced that the plant would hopefully be producing by now. The
latest estimate is the second half of 2023.
Author: Dave McKinley
Published: 8:54 PM EDT
October 10, 2022
Updated: 9:16 PM EDT
October 10, 2022
ALABAMA, N.Y. — The one-year anniversary
of when Plug Power broke
ground on a hydrogen plant in Genesee County is fast approaching.
While progress is being made on the
facility, however, it won't be producing hydrogen as soon as
previously hoped.
The
groundbreaking held on Crosby Road on October 20, 2021, was
significant in no small part due to this being the first development
for the 1,200-acre Science Technology and Advanced Manufacturing
Park, commonly known as STAMP,
which for years had been trying to attract tenants without success.
The plant, when operational, is expected
to produce 45 tons of liquid hydrogen per day, according to Plug
Power's General Manager of Energy Solutions and Chief Strategy
Officer Sanjay Shrestha.
Shrestha said this would be enough to
power (for a single day).
- -50,000 fuel cell forklifts, or,
- 7,500 light commercial vehicles, or,
- 1,000 "class a" trucks.
Work has been progressing on the site to
build out parts of the plant prior to the construction of one of its
main components, the electrolyzer which is used to extract hydrogen
from water.
During a recent visit in September,
Shrestha noted the work done thus far to construct two large
spheres, each capable of holding 500,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen,
as well as the area which will eventually become the loading
facility for trucks to carry the liquid hydrogen produced at the
plant, which Shrestha says will employ 55-60 full-time workers when
finished.
However, when the ground was broken last
October, it was also announced that the plant hoped to be up and
running by now.
According to Shrestha, the new target for
having the plant operation is the second half of 2023.
"There are things that go better than you
think they will, and things that go slower than you think, " he
said.
Shrestha cited a delay in the permitting
process for a nearby electrical substation, critical to plant
operations, as one factor.
"Without the power, you can't energize the
plant," said Shrestha, while predicting the permits would be
approved soon.
One thing you won't see at the plant when
it is finished are smokestacks billowing pollutants into the
atmosphere.
"The only thing we will emit
is oxygen," explained Shrestha. "There is no CO2. This is the new
refining that is going to support the transportation industry with
the difference being that it doesn't have any pollution attached to
it and that's the best part."
The $290 million project
received $118-million in tax breaks and other subsidies
including hydropower grants for what will initially be a plant with
between five and six dozen workers.
However, Shrestha noted that such taxpayer
investments are the reality for many types of alternative energy
projects.
"We’re very appreciative of the support
we’re getting from both the state and federal government. But when
hen you think about any new technology, there was a subsidy for
nuclear energy, when you do oil drilling there's a subsidy from a
tax cut perspective, and subsidies for clean coal," he said. "So,
energy is somewhat of a subsidized industry when you really think
about it."
Green Play Ammonia™, Yielder® NFuel Energy.
Spokane, Washington. 99212
www.exactrix.com
509 995 1879 cell, Pacific.
exactrix@exactrix.com
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