As part of New York’s ambitious clean energy agenda, Governor Cuomo announced $1.5 billion in competitive awards to support 20 large-scale wind, solar, and energy storage projects across upstate New York.
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo set ambitious new renewable energy goals for the state in his 2019 State of the State address this week. As part of a Green New Deal, Cuomo proposed a mandate of 100% carbon-free electricity in New York by 2040, which he said is the most aggressive goal of its kind in the U.S. — it even surpasses California’s landmark goal of 100% clean energy by 2045.
What’s more is Cuomo set goals for quadrupling New York’s offshore wind target and doubling distributed solar energy. “Let us set the goal: 100% clean power by 2040…highest in the United States of America,” he said during his speech.
According to the State of the State’s Social, Economic and Racial Justice Agenda, the cornerstone of this new carbon-free goal is an increase of New York’s successful Clean Energy Standard mandate from 50 to 70% renewable electricity by 2030.
Moreover, this unprecedented ramp-up of renewable energy will include:
- Quadrupling New York’s offshore wind target to 9,000 MW by 2035, up from 2,400 MW by 2030
- More than doubling new large-scale land-based wind and solar resources through the Clean Energy Standard
- Doubling distributed solar deployment to 6,000 MW by 2025, up from 3,000 MW by 2023
- Maximizing the contributions and potential of New York’s existing renewable resources
- Deploying 3,000 MW of energy storage by 2030
“Achieving 100% carbon-free electricity will require investments in resources capable of meeting diverse demands throughout the state, as well as a substantial increase in cost-effective energy efficiency,” states the new Agenda. “Harnessing a complementary set of carbon-free energy resources will assure reliability and affordability for all New Yorkers as the electricity system is both modernized and optimized.”
“We thank Governor Cuomo for making offshore wind energy a critical piece of his mandate to get to ‘100% clean, carbon-free’ electricity by 2040 and for increasing the state’s offshore wind target from 2,400 MW by 2030 to 9,000 MW by 2035,” said Liz Burdock, president and CEO of the Business Network for Offshore Wind. “This is a massive increase and sends a clear message to the industry that New York is taking a leadership position in the U.S. offshore wind market.”
To further spur offshore wind, the Agenda also includes investing $200 million in New York port infrastructure, establishing a New York State Advisory Council on Offshore Wind Economic and Workforce Development, and investing in an offshore wind training center. It also aims to facilitate the development of an offshore wind transmission grid.
Burdock added: “We also thank the Governor for asking for $200 million in port infrastructure, and investments in a training center and the development of an offshore transmission grid to make development more efficient and affordable for taxpayers and ratepayers. New York is off to a great start in 2019.”
Filed Under: News, Offshore wind, Policy
