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Under pressure to meet its 100% clean energy goals by 2040, NYPA, operating under enhanced authority granted in 2023, is moving forward on its first 40 self-developed clean energy projects. New York, the financial capital of the world, is putting its money where its mouth is, tasking its powerful public energy authority with deploying clean energy projects that balance profits with the public good. The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has been tasked with supporting the development of clean energy resources needed to meet the state’s 100% clean energy goals. Following approval of contractors last spring, the group has been gathering feedback on its first set of projects, with final comments due early this December. The Renewable Energy Strategic Plan: Draft for Public Comment, released Oct. 4, outlines the first 40 projects NYPA is pursuing: 32 solar projects, one wind project, and seven battery storage systems. Combined, these facilities will have more than 3.5 GW of capacity. NYPA’s expanded responsibilities include workforce development, community outreach, and decarbonization of small gas-fired power plants. Additionally, the agency oversees existing generation assets, transmission infrastructure, channel management, and environmental justice efforts. A roadmap for renewable energy NYPAs newly created Renewables program emphasizes early advances in areas such as staffing, contractor engagement, due diligence processes, best practices research, and project development. The group has also conducted a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis to determine how it can compete in New Yorks established clean energy market. Key benefits cited include: Access to various sources of capital. High credit rating and solid balance sheet. Experience in locating land and obtaining permits. The Direct Pay program. Reputation for reliability among diverse customer bases. Strong ties to the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), which could ease interconnection issues. Under its bylaws, NYPA is required to own a majority stake in the projects it develops. However, the agency is exploring flexible development and ownership models, including build-and-transfer agreements, in which it acquires the entirety of projects built at agreed-upon stages, and direct participation in projects, offering strategic support during development phases. To monetize its clean energy assets, NYPA plans to sell Tier 1 renewable energy certificates (CERs) and enter into power purchase agreements (PPAs) for projects larger than 5 MWac. For smaller projects, the agency sees the Variable Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) program as a logical market. Overall, NYPA views merchant market returns as insufficient on their own to meet financial goals. The 40 clean energy projects in NYPA’s inaugural portfolio are undergoing a detailed review process in collaboration with 79 pre-qualified developers and investors, selected earlier this year through a request for information (RFI) process focused on renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, battery storage, and green hydrogen. Final decisions on the projects are expected to be made in January, following a thorough evaluation of technical data, project economics, community impact, and real estate factors. NYPA said it will “provide estimated cost information for the projects as it becomes available” as contracts are executed and in biennial Strategic Plan updates. As NYPA moves forward with these renewable energy projects, New York State is also casting a wide net in its energy strategy. A separate RFI released by NYSERDA seeks to gauge interest in advanced nuclear technologies, reflecting the state’s commitment to exploring all avenues toward a zero-emissions electric grid by 2040. |
