By GREGORY ZELLER //
One of the nation’s first clean-hydrogen projects is coming to Long Island, courtesy of one of the region’s largest utilities.
National Grid and the Town of Hempstead have announced the HyGrid Project, which is designed to “decarbonize” existing grids by mixing green hydrogen – a promising zero-carbon energy-storage innovation capable of storing and transporting energy generated by renewable sources – into existing power-distribution systems.
Although technically one of the nation’s largest green-hydrogen projects, the Point Lookout-based pilot program aims small: It will heat approximately 800 homes and fuel 10 municipal vehicles, leveraging technologies at an existing Town of Hempstead hydrogen facility that National Grid launched in 2009 to provide locally produced green hydrogen for municipal vehicles.
Eight-hundred homes and 10 town cars ain’t nothing – but it’s merely the tip of the carbon-free iceberg, according to National Grid New York President Rudy Wynter.
Rudy Wynter: Flying hydrogen.
“We believe that hydrogen can transform the energy industry, and we are on the forefront,” Wynter said. “This exciting project shows that hydrogen blending can be used to decarbonize the existing networks.”
In addition to the installation of new equipment, the HyGrid Project – “the largest green-hydrogen blending project for direct use by utility customers in the Northeast,” according to Wynter – will use existing machinery already in place, including wind and solar systems used to generate hydrogen for motor vehicles.
Project organizers also note an adjacent National Grid relay station powering the Point Lookout neighborhood – ready to receive and distribute green-hydrogen energy.
Wynter, who referenced a “safe, reliable and cost-efficient energy system to benefit our customers,” said increasing Hempstead’s hydrogen-production capacity and adding home-heating to the town’s mix were important steps on the regional road to net zero.
“This vision began 12 years ago,” the National Grid New York president added. “Now we have an exciting option that helps meet the goals of New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.”
