ANSONIA – The city is looking to lease the long-vacant former SHW plant to a fuel cell developer.
Mayor David Cassetti’s administration is currently in talks to lease four acres of the property on 35 N Main St. to Johnson Controls.
The company plans to build nine, 440-kilowatt fuel cells there. Ansonia Economic Development Director Sheila O’Malley said she expects the lease to be signed as early as this month.
The project would provide 3.96 megawatts of power. That’s enough to power about 3,600 homes, according to a document from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Fuel cells take in hydrogen as fuel to produce electricity, according to the Department of Energy. Because they create water as a waste product instead of carbon dioxide, they have fewer air emissions than combustion-based power sources. In Connecticut, fuel cells are categorized as a Class I renewable energy source.
Aaron Alibrio, a representative from Johnson Controls, appeared at the April Board of Aldermen meeting to discuss the deal.
The Aldermen asked Alibrio how much money the city would receive. A document prepared by Johnson Controls in support of their bid forecasted about $10.6 million in revenue to the city, paid over the next 20 years.
The payments would start two years after the fuel cells are up and running. Alibrio said that those payments would essentially function as a payment in lieu of taxes.
“You would be seeing those revenues flow back to the city,” Alibrio said.
The terms of the deal are still being negotiated. A phone call seeking comment was left with the corporation counsel on May 7.
Johnson Controls is a multinational company that also produces fire alarms and HVAC products. Their global revenue last year was $26.8 billion, according to a financial report.
The city is also in negotiations with Primrose Companies – the Bridgeport developer working on building a sports complex on Olsen Drive – which hopes to rent out building space on the site to manufacturers. O’Malley said the city is open to either selling or leasing part of the four acres to Primrose.
City corporation counsel John Marini said in the Aldermen meeting that the two deals are not mutually exclusive. He said the four-acre parcel has enough space to accommodate both Primrose and Johnson Controls.
A third proposal, from New York-based Cedar Village Development LLC, also hoped to rent out space to manufacturers, similar to Primrose’s proposal. This proposal was turned down at the meeting, though O’Malley said the city would be open to considering a similar deal with the same company in the future.
Before Johnson Controls, the city was in talks to lease out the space to HyAxiom, a competitor who also hoped to build fuel cells. However, those negotiations fell through, with the Aldermen rejecting a proposed lease agreement in March and putting the parcel back out to bid.
O’Malley said in a phone call with The Valley Indy that if a lease agreement is finalized, then she expects development to begin on the property within the next three months.
