Press Release
September 15, 2021
Dan Keefe | Brian Nearing
(518) 486-1868 | news@parks.ny.gov
State Parks Adding Solar Energy Project to Niagara Falls State Park
48th Parks' Solar Project Statewide Since
2012
Solar Energy Now Covers 15 Percent of Parks'
Total Electrical Needs
Project Pictures Available Here
As part of a
series of new sustainability initiatives being announced by state agencies
for Climate Week 2021, New York State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid today
announced a new solar array will provide clean, sustainable, carbon-free
power maintenance operations at Niagara Falls State Park - already the longtime symbol of green energy
in New York State thanks to the Falls' century-old history of hydroelectric
power generation.
"This project
reflects Parks' commitment and steady progress in furthering New York State's
efforts to combat human-influenced climate change by reducing reliance on
fossil-fuel generated electrical power," said Commissioner Kulleseid. "Every
addition of solar power generation means that much less is needed from
sources that produce climate-altering greenhouse gases. We are committed to
harvesting more energy from the sun to sustain our parks."
Each year
during Climate Week, New York State raises awareness in conjunction with our
local, national, and international partners of the impacts of climate change.
Set for Sept. 20-26th, Climate Week offers the opportunity for the
State to continue its leadership on actions to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and improve infrastructure resiliency to extreme weather.
Commissioner
Kulleseid announced the 300-kilowatt solar array at the park's maintenance
building and trolley shop at 1410 Buffalo Avenue. The panels will provide
power to the grid equivalent to the usage at the facility, which provides
vehicle and maintenance support for park operations and for natural-gas
powered trolleys that shuttle visitors.
A second
phase in the $435,000 project calls for the addition of electrical storage
batteries to allow the facility to go off-grid and continue operating during
blackouts or other emergencies.
During the
last decade, State Parks has installed 48 solar array projects at facilities
across the state, with 37 installed by State Parks staff and the rest by
contractors. These facilities combined are rated at about six megawatts, and
cover about 15 percent of State Parks' total statewide energy consumption. By
2027, Parks has a goal of covering half of its electricity needs through
renewable energy.
Assembly
member Angelo J. Morinello said, "Congratulations to Commissioner Erik
Kulleseid on this timely move to clean renewable energy for support of
maintenance operation at the nation's oldest state park, Niagara Falls State
Park. It is only fitting that the Parks solar project is to support
maintenance operations for the State's largest source of clean, renewable
energy, the mighty Niagara Falls. Thank you, Commissioner for your vision!"
Niagara
Falls Mayor Robert Restaino said, "The latest addition of this solar energy
project to the Niagara Falls State Park complements the City of Niagara
Falls' 150-year long history as a center for renewable energy. We appreciate
the State's continued commitment to clean and renewable energy sources within
our community and look forward to future clean energy projects in the city."
Adopted in
2019, the state Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act)
puts New York on a path to a carbon-neutral economy across all sectors. The
Climate Act also establishes a goal to achieve a zero-emission electricity
sector by 2040.
The State's
ambitious clean energy targets include installing nine gigawatts of offshore
wind by 2035, six gigawatts of distributed solar by 2025 and three gigawatts
of energy storage by 2030. It builds on New York's unprecedented ramp-up of
clean energy including over $4 billion invested in 91 large-scale renewable
projects across the state, supporting more than 150,000 jobs in New York's
clean energy sector in 2019, and 2,100 percent growth in the distributed
solar sector since 2011.
New York
will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent
from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that disadvantaged communities
receive at least 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of
clean energy investments.
New
York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees
more than 250 individual parks, historic sites, recreational trails, and boat
launches, which are visited by 78 million people annually. For more
information on State Park recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit parks.ny.gov,
connect on Facebook, or
follow on Twitter.
New York State's Nation-Leading
Climate Plan
New York
State's nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and
clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just
transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green
economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into
law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is
on a path to achieve its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector
by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to
reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York's unprecedented investments
to ramp-up clean energy including over $21 billion in 91 large-scale
renewable projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce buildings
emissions, $1.8 billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean
transportation initiatives, and over $1.2 billion in NY Green Bank
commitments. Combined, these investments are supporting more than 150,000
jobs in New York's clean energy sector in 2019, a 2,100 percent growth in the
distributed solar sector since 2011 and a commitment to develop 9,000
megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. With the Climate Act as its guide, New
York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85
percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 35 percent
with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments are
directed to disadvantaged communities, and advance progress towards the
state's 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption
by 185 trillion BTUs of end-use energy savings.