Albany

There was seemingly something for everybody when U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer visited the Port of Albany Monday afternoon.

Nearly $25 million in federal funding for infrastructure improvements that Schumer is seeking would boost the port's role as a major staging area for at least two offshore wind projects now in the planning stages.

That in turn would generate as many as 1,600 jobs regionally, as well as plenty of renewable electric generating capacity.

And the road improvements planned at the port could divert truck traffic from South Pearl Street, providing relief for residents in the nearby neighborhoods. There would be "economic justice," said Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, for those who have had to cope with foul air, truck exhaust, dust and noise.

And the clean energy industry the wind farm staging area represents would be a welcome change from the polluting factories that once lined the Hudson River's banks, said Bethlehem Town Supervisor David VanLuven.

The impetus for the latest round of port improvements comes from the supporting roles they'll play as two massive wind farms are constructed off the New York and New Jersey coasts.

The Ports of Albany and Coeymans would work together to help fabricate and assemble components for two wind farms, one a $3 billion project on 80,000 acres of Atlantic Ocean being developed by Stavanger, Norway-based Equinor, and the other being developed by Frederica, Denmark-based Orsted and Hartford, Conn.-based Eversource Energy. No price estimate has been announced.

"It's got to be a regional approach," said Port of Albany CEO Rich Hendrick. "There's no one port that could handle it all."

The two wind farms could be just the beginning. While they would together generate 1,700 megawatts, enough to power one million homes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has set a goal of 9,000 megawatts of clean energy by 2035. "(T)he state's port system will have to play a major role and receive upgrades to better handle offshore wind turbine cargo and distribution up and down the East Coast," according to Schumer.

Schumer three years ago helped land a $17.6 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation that helped pay for a 45,000-square-foot climate-controlled warehouse, 840 feet of new wharf, a 60,000-square-foot maritime warehouse to store paper and other port cargo, and improvements to the port's road system and security.

Groundbreaking is expected soon for the new warehouse. And the road improvements would let trucks travel between the north and south port entrances through port property, instead of down South Pearl Street. The new money would pay for that and for the port road and other infrastructure improvements.

"If we can improve the roadways, we hope to reduce the traffic on South Pearl Street," Hendrick said. "That's what everybody is working towards."