Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin, members of the Town Board and National Grid announced a joint project, to build one of the first and largest clean hydrogen projects in the country. The HyGrid Project located in Point Lookout on Long Island will blend green hydrogen into the existing distribution system to heat hundreds of homes and provide fuel for municipal vehicles. This clean hydrogen project in Point Lookout will be one of the first in the nation, and the largest on the East Coast.
The partnership, approved unanimously by Clavin and the bipartisan Hempstead Town Board – including Senior Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby, Councilman and County Executive-elect Bruce Blakeman, Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, Councilman Dennis Dunne, Sr., Councilman Tom Muscarella and Councilman Chris Carini, with the support of Town Clerk Kate Murray and Receiver of Taxes Jeanine Driscoll – National Grid will expand the existing hydrogen facility at Point Lookout’s Energy Park, located at the Town of Hempstead’s Department of Conservation and Waterways. When the Town of Hempstead’s hydrogen fueling station was introduced in 2009, it was the first on Long Island to provide locally produced green hydrogen for vehicles, demonstrating decarbonized transportation. The Town of Hempstead and National Grid will now expand the project to blend hydrogen for the purposes of transportation and also for heating hundreds of homes and fueling vehicles. Also attending the press conference in support of the project were Matthew Aracich of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau & Suffolk Counties, AFL-CIO; Pat Giudice of IBEW Local 1049 and Eric Alexander of Vision Long Island.
“I’m proud to join with my colleagues on the Hempstead Town Board to announce this exciting partnership with National Grid on a transformative clean energy project that will expand and improve our hydrogen fueling facility in Point Lookout, while developing one of the first green hydrogen blending projects in the nation,” Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin said. “The Town of Hempstead continues to be a clean energy leader amongst municipalities, as we have demonstrated the use of wind, solar and green hydrogen, among an array of projects, at our Point Lookout Energy Park. We are ready to work with National Grid to build on this legacy and thank them for their partnership on this cutting-edge initiative that will deliver zero-carbon energy to America’s largest township for years to come.”
“We believe that hydrogen can transform the energy industry, and we are on the forefront,” said Rudy Wynter, President of National Grid New York. “This will be the largest green hydrogen blending project for direct use by utility customers in the Northeast and one of the first in the country. This exciting project shows that hydrogen blending can be used to decarbonize the existing networks. This vision began 12 years ago and now we have an exciting option that helps meet the goals of New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) by using a safe, reliable and cost-efficient energy system to benefit our customers.”
The partnership with National Grid would further the Town of Hempstead’s ongoing environmental leadership amongst municipalities across the region, making it a nationwide model for green hydrogen energy. The HyGrid project will take place in an area with several environmental initiatives already in place in Point Lookout, including a solar and wind powered shellfish nursery, a self-relying “green energy” office, a wind turbine, solar car charging ports and the town’s recent expansion of the town’s fleet of fully electric and clean energy vehicles. In particular, the existing wind and solar equipment at the site is critical to the generation of zero-emissions hydrogen fuel for vehicles. By using renewable power options such as wind and solar energy, hydrogen is zero carbon. The new partnership will pair the Point Lookout Energy Park and National Grid’s adjacent energy facility to increase green hydrogen production capacity across the township.
"This is truly an exciting day for the future of clean energy on Long Island, as this partnership with National Grid will be a model for others across the nation,” Clavin said. “By utilizing our existing renewable power infrastructure and working with National Grid to expand the facility, we will be able to produce zero-carbon hydrogen energy to our residents and advance our ongoing environmental platform. "I want to thank my colleagues on the Town Board for supporting important environmental initiatives as the Town of Hempstead continues to embrace innovation and ongoing efforts aimed to reduce our carbon footprint.”
