Oct. 24—CANTON — The St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency approved a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) deal for Air Products and Chemicals as they seek to open a green liquid hydrogen fuel production facility in Massena.
The IDA board ratified a resolution backing the deal during its Tuesday afternoon meeting. It provides an estimated $9,444,320 over 20 years. The PILOT structure starts with a 95% tax abatement decreasing annually to 5% by its end. Patrick J. Kelly, CEO of the Industrial Development Agency, said the deal will mean the Air Products property by the 10th year will produce "265 times what that property was generating" in local taxes.
The half-billion dollar project aims to hire 90 people full time with an average salary and benefits package around $90,000. They also plan to have 350 or more "peak construction jobs." The finished facility will buy $30 million of water annually from the New York Power Authority and another $300,000 annually from the village of Massena. That's according to a slideshow that Trip Oliver, Air Products director of government affairs, showed to the IDA board.
The company has blue and green hydrogen facilities in the United States and Canada. Blue hydrogen uses natural gas as the power source to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, with carbon dioxide byproducts "captured and sequestered underground."
The Massena facility will make green hydrogen, meaning electric current run through water will split the hydrogen and oxygen with the only emission being pure oxygen.
Oliver said the company has been making liquid hydrogen for 60 years.
"The only thing new is the way the hydrogen is produced," he said.
"This is not an experiment. This is a real company doing real business," said IDA board member Ernest J. LaBaff.
Oliver said once the facility opens, likely in 2027, it will "displace over 600 million gallons of diesel over the life of the project."
Air Products is pushing its green hydrogen as an alternative renewable fuel source for things like trains, heavy industries, port equipment, passenger or school buses and medium- or heavy-duty trucks.
"We believe battery and electric vehicles are appropriate for passenger vehicles," Oliver said.
IDA board member James E. Reagen, who is also a Republican St. Lawrence County legislator representing Ogdensburg, said he thinks the liquid hydrogen produced in Massena could present a more viable alternative for school buses. New York has mandated that schools gradually phase out buses that run on fossil fuels.