On June 2nd, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) issued record requests for proposals from qualified developers to build renewable energy projects that will generate 2.5 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity a year. The two requests combined total the largest renewable RFP issued in any state. Alliance for Clean Energy New York estimates that the solicitation “will drive between 600 and 1,600 megawatts of new capacity depending on the mix of technologies ultimately developed.”
The projects resulting from these solicitations will help advance New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard (CES), which aims to raise the proportion of renewable energy powering the state from 26% to 50% by the year 2030. Currently, the NYSERDA and NYPA plan to invest up to $1.5 billion in wind, commercial solar and solar arrays, small and large-scale hydro, fuel cell and other technologies. The NYSERDA RFP will solicit 1.5 million MWh of electricity by purchasing Tier 1 renewable energy credits (RECs) from renewable energy projects under contracts of up to 20 years, and selling these credits to New York load-serving entities in line with the CES. Similarly, the NYPA RFP will solicit another 1 million MWh by purchasing a combination of energy, capacity, and RECs from renewable energy projects under contracts of up to 20 years. The NYPA’s program will offer customers flexibility and access to new generation through various power purchase agreement structures.
The solicitations present a huge opportunity for both renewable energy developers and the energy sector’s overall job market to expand. To make the funding opportunities available through the RFPs more accessible, developers are presented with a variety of pathways for responding to either or both solicitations (although they must commit to one by November 2017). New renewable energy projects spurred by the RFPs will create thousands of development, operations, and construction jobs across the clean energy supply chain through 2022.
Renewable energy developers and project owners have until September 1st to submit proposals to NYPA, and until July 13th to submit initial applications to NYSERDA’s two-step RFP process. Proposals that are pre-qualified in the first round will proceed to the competitive bidding round. Project selections will be finalized beginning November 2017 for both solicitations. Detailed guidelines for determining project eligibility and submitting proposals to NYSERDA and NYPA can be found here.
We encourage clean tech developers to submit their proposals, and we look forward to continued progress and innovation in New York’s renewable energy sector.
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