The overhaul to the subway and bus maintenance facility near Shea Stadium will include new tracks, an administrative office and electronics—as well as a hydrogen fuel cell that will help power the site.

Environmental groups like the New York Public Interest Research Group welcome the change. “I think using newer technology, such as fuel cells, to power our public infrastructure is a good thing,” said Jason Babbie, a senior environmental policy analyst. “New York City has a large air problem, and by using clean (energy) sources the state’s turning a corner to help clean the air.”

Installation of the fuel cell—the first in a Metropolitan Transit Authority facility—will begin later this month and continue into the early summer.

The fuel cell generates electricity through a chemical reaction involving oxygen and hydrogen and produces heat and water as byproducts. When finished, the maintenance facility, which services the No. 7 line, will use the 200-kilowatt cell to pull 35 percent less energy from the city’s electricity grid, saving 2,800 barrels of oil each year.

The project is one of many that New York City Transit is undertaking to comply with Governor George Pataki’s 2001 executive order that state agencies get 20 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2010. Last year, New York City Transit unveiled a state-of-the-art 100-kilowatt solar canopy at the reconstructed Stillwell Avenue Terminal in Coney Island.

Environmentalists are happy with the governor’s policy because it makes the air cleaner and gives a boost to the development of new emission-free technologies.

“Fuel cells are the ones that work (to cut emissions) well, but they are the most expensive,” Babbie said. “It’s good that the state is providing a way for (the technology) to grow economically.”

Many power companies, including New York Power Authority, also support the plan and are increasing their resources to meet the emission goal. “Even though the executive order applies to state agencies, many local levels are applying it too,” said NYPA spokesman Brian Warner. “We are trying to hold back (our emissions) and use new clean technology to move forward.”

NYPA has installed hydrogen fuel cells at water treatment plants and various locations throughout the city, including the Central Park Police Precinct and the North Central Bronx Hospital. In addition, the company has installed solar panels in bus depots in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and at the Maspeth Warehouse Facility.

New York City Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said that there are no current plans to install fuel cells in more MTA venues until the agency sees how the cell performs at the Corona facility.