Finance

New York to support upgrades at seven hydroelectric plants

New York’s 2017 "State of the State" plan, unveiled this week by Governor Andrew Cuomo, includes $360 million to be used to upgrade a number of hydropower projects across the state.
New York to support upgrades at seven hydroelectric plants

New York’s 2017 “State of the State” plan, unveiled this week by Governor Andrew Cuomo, includes $360 million to be used to upgrade a number of hydropower projects across the state.

The initiative allocates funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which aims to inject close to $1 billion in additional private investments into the state’s wind, solar and hydro sectors.

Specifically mentioned in Cuomo’s plan are upgrades including:

  • Installation of a new 890 kW high-flow turbine generator at Brookfield Renewable Energy Group’s Fulton plant in Oswego County;
  • Restoration of the City of Auburn’s 1.12-MW North Division Street Dam in Cayuga County;
  • Installation of an 850 kW unit to Eagle Creek Power LLC’ Swinging Bridge plant in Sullivan County, increasing its output capacity to more than 7 MW;
  • Improvements to runners at Brookfield Energy Marketing LP’s Belfort project in Herkimer County, increasing the installed capacity to 2.4 MW;
  • Upgrades to equipment at Northbrook New York LLC’s Glen Park plant in Jefferson County, resulting in a new capacity of more than 32 MW;
  • Upgrades to equipment at Ampersand Tannery Island Hydro LLC’s Tannery Island project in Jefferson County, increasing capacity to more than 1.8 MW; and
  • Upgrades to equipment at Ampersand Alcott Hydro LLC’s Burt Dam in Niagara County, raising the project’s capacity to 600 kW.

New York plans build on its 2017 plan by supporting an additional 35 new renewable projects by 2020, the document said, with $4 billion public investments and up to double that in private money.

“For every $1 invested in large scale renewable projects such as these, New Yorkers will realize $3 in economic benefits in the form of jobs, payments to public entities, in-state purchases of goods and services and land leases,” the plan says. “From Long Island to Buffalo, these new projects will help power the energy systems of tomorrow while protecting our environment and creating skilled jobs in emerging sectors of the economy.”

Cuomo’s administration has been supportive of New York’s hydropower sector throughout his tenure as governor, most visibly through the ReCharge NY program, which also seeks to use hydropower allocations from the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to stimulate economic and industrial growth.

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