The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has issued a permit for the proposed General Electric Battery Plant in Schenectady County, determining that the state-of-the art facility will meet environmental requirements, Regional Director Gene Kelly announced.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Regional Director Gene KellyWith a funding assist from both state and federal governments, GE Transportation will establish an approximately 200,000-square-foot manufacturing plant by renovating Building 66 on the company's campus in Niskayuna. Work will begin this fall, according to the Albany Business Review.

The GEMx sodium battery technology is currently being used by GE's diesel-electric locomotives. These batteries are versatile and will be manufactured for numerous energy storage applications,  including those in the residential, commercial, military and transportation sectors. The new facility will be the company's first full-scale manufacturing plant producing these innovative batteries.

DEC served as lead agency for the project's environmental review process (covering air, water, land, noise and historic significance issues, among others), completed in accordance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR). View DEC's determination that the project would not have a significant effect on the environment (PDF) (94 kB).