New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 2,500 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Albany County

Albany County has a population of 316,659. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 64,742 cases in the county.

The county received a grade of B for ozone pollution. For particle pollution — the fine soot and dust that can be breathed deep into the lungs — it received a grade of D.

Federal monitoring recorded 184 days of good air quality and 84 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 5 days rated unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Long-term exposure to air pollution has been linked to certain health conditions, particularly for children and older adults. Where electricity comes from affects how much combustion pollution is produced on the grid.

These figures describe the county as a whole and are not specific to this facility. Sources: American Lung Association – State of the Air (New York); U.S. EPA Air Quality Index.

The story behind this New York renewable energy facility

Of the 567 solar plants in New York’s clean-energy category, Hecate Energy Albany 2 in Coeymans ranks #16 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It’s a solar photovoltaic plant, meaning panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity, and it began operating in 2024.

Its capacity is 21.1 MW (megawatts, a measure of the most power it can deliver at one moment). Over 2024 it produced 24.7 gigawatt-hours, a unit of electricity over time, which is about 2,500 homes’ worth of yearly use. Greenbacker Renewable Energy Corporation owns it, and National Grid is the local utility.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 9,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as taking about 2,000 cars off the road for a year.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Coeymans sits in Albany County, just south of the city of Albany, where the Empire State Plaza and the University at Albany are well-known landmarks. The Hudson River waterfront is close by, and Thacher State Park in the Helderberg hills offers a scenic day out.

Local school district

Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District

Common questions

* Homes-powered and emissions comparisons are annual estimates based on national averages from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Homes powered” describes a quantity of electricity, not direct service to specific households. How we calculate this.