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Montante, Chinese Sign Solar Power deal

By George Pyle

January 19, 2010

 An industrial park under development in the Town of Tonawanda has been rebranded as New York’s first “solar ready” commercial development, as its owners Monday celebrated the signing of a deal expected to bring Chinese know-how and investment to the site.

Leaders of TM Montante Development, the owners of the newly renamed Riverview Solar Technology Park, and the Shanghai New Energy Industry Association held a ceremonial signing of a memorandum of understanding Monday morning at the offices of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership in downtown Buffalo.

The text of the memo was not made public, but it was described by leaders of both parties as a promise and plan to link the renewable energy industries of China, where 35 percent of the world’s solar energy modules are made, and Western New York, where solar and other renewable energy sources are seen as an environmentally responsible route to economic renewal.

In addition to its previous designation as a “shovel ready” development site by state officials, meaning that it has already received its environmental and development permits, Montante Development President Thomas M. Montante said the project will be “solar ready.”

Fifty of the park’s 180 acres, which sit along River Road northeast of the South Grand Island Bridge, will be set aside for solar energy collectors that will generate 10 megawatts of power for use on site.

That power, together with the area’s availability of pollution- free hydropower from the New York Power Authority, means park businesses not only can make products that do not create greenhouse gas emissions but also can make them in an environment that is pollution- free.

“We intend to be New York’s leader in solar development,” Montante said. “Energy and the environment are at the forefront of the battle for attracting and retaining business throughout the country. We decided to address this reality with a strategy of integrating solar as an enhancement of our core business.”

The Shanghai organization is a consortium of about 300 member companies from the Shanghai area’s renewable energy sector, which also maintains an office in San Jose, Calif. Its executive vice chairwoman, Yeu Mi, signed the document Monday on behalf of the association.

“I am 100 percent confident in this new era of energy development in New York State,” Mi said through a translator. “We are going to develop our products not only in the United States but in the whole world.”

A link between the two parties was provided by Daniel Montante, son of the company president and a director of Montante Development, who is a veteran of four years of business experience in Shanghai as an acquisitions and mergers representative for DuPont.

The younger Montante said the Riverview development plan allows a form of commerce that does not demand so much of a sacrifice from nature and forms a cooperative rather than a competitive relationship with growing Chinese businesses.

“We look forward to progressive and productive relations that will benefit both parties,” he said.

Also on hand to praise the agreement were State Sen. George D. Maziarz, R-Newfane, and Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, D-Town of Tonawanda.

“You have picked the right partners,” Maziarz said to the Shanghai delegation, “and you have picked the right location.”

State economic development officials announced recently that the state had awarded a $1 million grant to the Town of Tonawanda for its Riverwalk East Park Connector project to build roads and utility services for the Montante project and for the town-owned North Youngmann Commerce Center nearby.

gpyle@buffnews.com