New York’s energy storage deployment target of 1.5GW by 2025, roundly welcomed by the industry when introduced at the beginning of 2018, has been ‘doubled’ to 3GW – by 2030.
Governor Andrew Cuomo had set the original target in announcing clean energy policy packages that he described as a “comprehensive agenda to combat climate change” a year ago in his 2018 State of the State clean energy agenda.
Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis
- Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
- In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
- Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
- Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual
Or continue reading this article for free
Yesterday, NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Agency) emailed Energy-Storage.news a release announcing that in addition to new energy efficiency targets for 2025 aimed at dramatically reducing energy consumption, a further Energy Storage Initiative will help provide energy to around 1.2 million households. It could also generate economic benefits worth US$2 billion to the state.
Cuomo said that regulator New York Public Service Commission had approved the efficiency and energy storage initiatives. The former instructs the state’s investor-owned utilities to make energy efficiency improvements and savings equivalent to the energy consumption of about 1.8 million average households. The storage initiative should help ensure the 2025 target can be met, while adding the doubled target for 2030.
Along with the environmental and economic benefits and increased energy security that the increased use of energy storage should allow for, Cuomo’s office also stressed the importance of creating a lasting jobs market in the industry in New York. The deployment target runs alongside a goal of creating 30,000 jobs in the industry.
Other measures to accelerate and remove barriers from energy storage deployment
New York Power Authority (NYPA) also said this week that over the next five years, it will invest US$250 million in electrical grid flexibility measures. These would boost the adoption of wind and solar energy, while providing a variety of use cases for energy storage. The investment will be aimed at helping third-party providers to enter the market and accelerate the implementation of 150MW of grid flexibility projects with less market risk.
New York State Public Service Commission also approved the six major electric utilities in New York State, which include Consolidated Edison and National Grid, to hold competitive procurements for 350MW of ‘bulk-sited’ energy storage systems.
The commission also authorised NYSERDA to implement a US$310 million “market acceleration bridge incentive” which would complement a pledge made in November to provide US$40 million for projects adding energy storage to commercial solar PV installations. NYSERDA also now needs to file a plan for demonstrating how the market acceleration bridging process will work.
“Reducing the reliance on costly, dirty and inefficient energy infrastructure”, and therefore ultimately reaching the state goal of meeting 50% of electricity demand from renewables by 2030, will result in US$2 billion in economic benefits, the governor’s office claimed. This will come from both creating economic opportunities as well as reducing the social and public burdens of pollution and increasing fossil fuel costs.