New York state is further supporting Cummins Inc.’s expansion at the Jamestown Engine Plant with a 450 kilowatt allocation of hydropower from the Niagara Power Project.

The $452 million expansion project will help Cummins retain 1,280 jobs at the Busti plant while the company expects to add another 90 jobs.

“Today’s economic development announcements further demonstrate the depth and breadth of the Power Authority’s impact on the Buffalo-Niagara area and the larger Western New York region,” said New York Power Authority Chairman John R. Koelmel. “Today’s actions by the NYPA Board of Trustees directly support Cummins $500 million investment in Chautauqua County while also enabling the Hispanic Heritage Council to build a cultural and educational center on Buffalo’s westside. The Power Authority is continuing to leverage low-cost Niagara hydropower to improve the economic and cultural well-being of our host communities.”

Low-cost Niagara hydropower is available for companies within a 30-mile radius of the Power Authority’s Niagara Power Project or businesses in Chautauqua County.

As The Post-Journal reported in February, the Cummins Inc. expansion project will renovate 120,000 square feet of its 998,000 square foot facility to bring a fuel agnostic engine line to the Busti plant.

Thus far, the only local assistance Cummins had requested is a $3 million sales tax exemption for the project. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in May that the state was providing $10 million in Excelsior tax credits for the project in addition to Thursday’s announcement of the ReCharge NY low-rate electricity allocation.

The platforms use engine blocks and core components that share common architectures that can then be optimized for different low-carbon fuel types — making the Jamestown Engine Plant a player to make the alternative-fueled engines. Below the head gasket of each engine will largely have similar components and above the head gasket will have different components for different fuel types. Each engine version will operate using a different, single fuel. The new design approach will be applied across the company’s B, L and X-Series engine portfolios, which will be available for diesel, natural gas and hydrogen.

In August, PACCAR and Cummins jointly announced that the Cummins X15N natural gas engine will be used in new Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks. Cummins also has a memorandum of understanding with the Tata Auto Group for hydrogen-fueled engines.