NEW YORK - Ice is a fact of life in the winter on the Niagara River near Buffalo. When the flow of the water is needed to make hydroelectric power, the ice has to go and that's where boats called icebreakers go to work.

What You Need To Know

  • The New York Power Authority or NYPA has purchased a new Icebreaker Boat, which helps keep water flowing on the Niagara River near Buffalo during the winter. The water needs to flow to the Niagara Power Plant to make Hydroelectric power for the state

  • Breaker II is a Red Tugboat outfitted with a reinforced hull and a grade of steel specially made for ice conditions

  • NYPA produces about 25 percent of all electricity in the state, around 80 percent is clean hydroelectric energy

  • NYPA supplies power to the subway system, airports, government buildings and some corporations and manufacturers as part of a state economic development program

The New York Power Authority, NYPA, is showing off its newest icebreaker appropriately called Breaker II. The vessel was built in Rhode Island by Blount Boats, which also built the latest Governors Island Ferry. It made a pit stop at the North Cove Marina in Battery Park City after an 18-hour voyage, before continuing a 9-day trip to Buffalo that will take it up the Hudson and though the legendary Erie Canal.

New York Power Authority President and CEO Gil Quiniones was there to check it out and says the boat is key to keeping the juice flowing to New York City. Believe it or not, electricity produced by NYPA 400 miles away at the Niagara Power Plant keeps some pretty important things rolling in the five boroughs.

"We supply the electricity to all the subways, the airports, all the government buildings of the city of New York, MTA, the Port Authority, and all of the state buildings that are here,” said Quiniones .

NYPA is the largest state-owned electric utility in the nation, producing about 25 percent of all electricity in New York State, around 80 percent is clean hydroelectric energy. So NYPA needs to keep the Niagara River free of ice to draw water into the power plant through two massive intake pipes the size of the Holland Tunnel.

Breaker II can also help with Ice Booms, which are giant pontoons used on Lake Erie to hold ice in, so it doesn't flow down the river. But that doesn't always work when weather conditions are extreme, and that's why icebreakers like the 58-foot-long Breaker II are integral to the power making process.

"It has a reinforced hull with an increased thickness of reinforcement. Also the grade of steel that we use is specially made for ice conditions,” said Mike Doyle, NYPA Project Engineer.

New York State will take official ownership of Breaker II on September 9th, at a ceremony in Buffalo, where the keys will be handed over to NYPA.