The fueling station is located at the town’s Department of Conservation and Waterways in Point Lookout.

Hempstead Town’s new fueling station is a major research and demonstration project that will help to assess the viability of hydrogen and HCNG as alternative fuels, with the goal of identifying cleaner alternatives to gasoline that will reduce fossil fuel dependency. It is the first hydrogen fueling station on Long Island, and the fifth station in the New York metropolitan area. Presently, the two closest stations are located in JFK Airport and the City of White Plains, with another station planned for the Bronx.

Construction of the fueling station cost approximately $2.2 million. NYSERDA provided $900,000 in funding for the project, and National Grid contributed $55,000. Additionally, the New York State alternative fuel vehicle fueling infrastructure tax credit will contribute 50% of the total cost of the refueling station. Hempstead Town’s Department of Conservation and Waterways managed the project construction and furnished much of the labor through the town’s work force.

EmPower, an organization with extensive solar-hydrogen energy technologies experience, served as the assistant project manager and will collect data from the station to produce a report about its energy, environmental and economic performance. Air Products, a global industrial gas company, supplied the fueling technology and installed the facility’s hydrogen infrastructure, while Proton Energy Systems supplied the hydrogen electrolyzer. PW Grosser served as a consulting engineer on the project.

Five years ago, NYSERDA began planning for and funding a Hydrogen Roadmap initiative that included three fueling stations across the state (Hempstead, Albany International Airport and Rochester Institute of Technology). Hempstead Town is now the latest link in this roadmap. NYSERDA has also partnered with General Motors to have several GM Fuel Cell-powered vehicles (the Equinox) demonstrated at the stations.

Hempstead Town utilizes natural gas vehicles in its municipal fleet. Additionally, blended hydrogen/compressed natural gas will fuel a new shuttle bus to be used for the Town’s Senior Enrichment Program. The Ford E450 shuttle bus, supplied by the Hythane Company, will be upfitted to run on natural gas and then calibrated to run on the HCNG fuel.