Energy technology firm Plug Power has started construction on a $290 million electric substation and green hydrogen fuel production plant in Genesee County, providing a boost to a business park roughly halfway between Buffalo and Rochester that has been in the works for more than a decade.
State and local officials hope Plug Power getting shovels in the dirt is just the beginning of development at the 1,250-acre Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park, or STAMP, in the Town of Alabama.
“We believe that Plug Power is just the starting point in a chain reaction effect that will result in success, not only at STAMP but across the state," said Mark Masse, senior vice president of operations at the Genesee County Economic Development Center.
"Interest at STAMP among corporate site selectors from the advanced manufacturing sector, including semiconductor and clean energy, has never been stronger. There’s a long queue of prospects constantly asking for information, meetings and visiting the site,” he said.
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Plug Power, a publicly traded firm based near Albany, will be the park's first tenant, building a massive green hydrogen production facility expected to produce 45 metric tons of green liquid hydrogen every day for freight transportation and materials handling equipment across the Northeast. The project also includes a 450-megawatt electric substation that will service the entire STAMP site.
Plug Power, the state said, has committed to creating up to 68 jobs. For those job creation commitments, Empire State Development is chipping in up to $2 million in Excelsior tax credits.
The project also is getting incentives from the New York Power Authority, including a 10-megawatt allocation of low-cost hydropower from the Niagara Power Project, $1.5 million from the Western New York Power Proceeds program and 143 megawatts of power that the Power Authority will procure for the company on the energy market.
Gov. Kathy Hochul joined with state and local officials to break ground Oct. 20, 2021, on Plug Power's planned $290 million investment at the STAMP site in the Town of Alabama in Genesee County.
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she views the project as a catalyst to bring other companies to the site, while also positioning Western New York and the state as a leader in the "clean energy revolution."
"This is not a futuristic dream," she said at a groundbreaking Wednesday. "It's happening now."
One of the prospects STAMP has been hoping to land is Samsung, which has looked at the Genesee County site as well as a competing location in Austin, Texas, for a $17 billion semiconductor plant that could employ 1,900 people – roughly the population of the Town of Alabama. Despite a news report in May that Samsung had chosen Austin, the electronics behemoth has remained mum on its decision.
The company did not respond to a request seeking comment Wednesday.
Samsung will build a $17 billion semiconductor plant in the United States – but hasn't specified where yet.
For Plug Power, the expansion fits into its plan to build several hydrogen production facilities across North America over the next couple years. In addition, the company in January announced it would establish a $125 million Innovation Center in the Rochester area that will create about 375 jobs.
At STAMP, Plug Power CEO Andy Marsh said he hopes Plug Power's investment provides momentum for the site to attract additional tenants.
Plug Power said it has an "aggressive timeline" to produce the first liquid hydrogen in the fourth quarter of 2022 at the STAMP site, with the full plant capacity coming online in early 2023.
“Next October, when we’re producing green hydrogen from Niagara Falls power, now that will be a real cool gathering," Marsh said. "And I'll pull up in a vehicle, which is a hydrogen vehicle, and fill it up here."
