Dunkirk Planning and Development Director Vince DeJoy said the city has been approached by developers about reuse of the NRG plant site for a data center and a new form of power generation.

Dunkirk’s planning and development director said the city has “been approached by a number of international developers” about the NRG plant site.

Vince DeJoy’s comments at a Common Council meeting came in response to a question from Councilwoman Natalie Luczkowiak.

“I saw in the paper this last weekend there’s talk of NRG being repowered for perhaps natural gas, for one,” Luczkowiak said. “You mentioned, Vince, there are certain types of data centers interested in possibly purchasing the plant and these data centers focus on different types of power. Will NRG sell the plant even if the repowering is natural gas?”

“We’re actually working with NRG as we complete a study that was funded by NYSERDA… we’re waiting for the final report,” DeJoy responded. “We’re going to submit that to NRG and NRG has expressed an interest to have ongoing discussions. We have been studying and working towards that. We have been approached by a number of international developers that deal in power generation and hyperscale data centers.”

DeJoy continued, “The site would be perfect for it — they’ve done it at other, larger abandoned or decommissioned coal burning power plants. But yes, potentially natural gas could be used — it would be a quicker initial fuel to power not only a data center but (create power that) could be sold on the grid. In the future, nuclear or hydrogen gas or other types of fuel sources are being explored.”

DeJoy added the city is working with county, state and federal officials “to help position Dunkirk for potentially repowering that site, which I think would be a game changer for the city of Dunkirk.”

Luczkowiak expressed that she hopes hydropower is used.

“Mamy in the city would like us to be committed to a clean and safe area,” she said. “We can emphasize clean energy now and protect our city, its residents and its resources. We definitely don’t want to damage the water. We are so lucky to have fresh water bordering our city. Let’s not tamper with that.”