New York launches largest renewable solicitation in US history

New York’s aggressive renewable procurement efforts hit a historic mark today, with Governor Andrew Cuomo announcing the largest single renewable energy solicitation ever put forth in the United States.

The solicitation calls for  up to 4,000 megawatts of renewable capacity, all with the direct objective of combating climate change. Of these 4,000 MW, the solicitation calls for up to 2,500 megawatts of offshore wind projects, as well as over 1,500 megawatts of land based large-scale renewable energy projects. That 1,500 MW solicitation, issued specifically by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York Power Authority (NYPA), is the nation’s largest coordinated solicitation for land based large-scale renewable energy projects by a U.S. state.

“During one of the most challenging years New York has ever faced, we remain laser-focused on implementing our nation-leading climate plan and growing our clean energy economy, not only to bring significant economic benefits and jobs to the state, but to quickly attack climate change at its source by reducing our emissions,” said Governor Cuomo.”With these record-breaking solicitations for renewable energy and new port infrastructure, New York continues to lead the way with the most ambitious Green New Deal in the nation, creating a future fueled by clean, renewable energy sources.”

Meeting goals and making jobs

This first solicitation has the potential to bring New York State halfway toward its goal of 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035, while also providing significant headway towards New York State’s mandate to secure 70% of the state’s electricity from renewable energy by 2030.

The two solicitations are expected to create approximately $7 billion in direct investments in approximately 4,500 short and long-term jobs, which the Governor’s office shares that it is leaning on, at least in part, to jumpstart and drive economic growth as part of reopening and reimagining New York State’s economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Solicitation specifics

The land-based renewable solicitation is actually split into two categories: projects being procured by NYSERDA and those being procured by NYPA. NYSERDA’s portion calls for the development of Tier-1 eligible renewable energy projects that will generate 1.6 million MWh or more annually. Any project that can be certified as a Tier 1 renewable technology and entered operation after January 1, 2015 or by November 30, 2022, with the option for extensions to November 30, 2025 that meets the kWh goal is eligible. The land-based projects selected will be the fastest to construction and NYSERDA hopes to notify the awarded developers in early 2021.

As for NYPA, that solicitation is seeking projects that will generate 2 million MWh or more annually, with a generation capacity between 20 MW to 25 MW or 100 MW+. The 2 million MWh goal can be served by one or multiple projects. The contracts offered will be for a bundled product which will include energy, capacity and RECs. The selected projects are expected to come online between 2021 and 2024, and winning bidders will be announced by year end 2020.

NYSERDA will host a webinar on this request for proposals and the submittal process for potential proposers on Tuesday, August 4, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. EDT.