New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the release of the state’s comprehensive Energy Storage Roadmap to guide New York toward its nation-leading energy storage target. With this Roadmap, the state is jumpstarting the development of this clean energy technology, while supporting the Governor’s energy storage target of 1,500 MW by 2025 — the equivalent electricity demand of one-fifth of all New York homes.
The new Roadmap identifies short-term recommendations for how energy storage can deliver value to New York electricity consumers and cost-effectively address the needs and demands of the grid.
The comprehensive plan will also bolster the Reforming the Energy Vision strategy to build a clean, resilient, and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers to combat climate change.
“Clean energy is the future of our planet, and New York will continue to lead the nation in this technology to fight climate change and conserve resources for generations to come,” Governor Cuomo said. “This Roadmap is the next step to not only grow our clean energy economy and create jobs, but to improve the resiliency of the grid to keep our power running in the face of extreme weather and other emergency situations.”
“There is no doubt that we must act with urgency to combat the threat posed by climate change,” added Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. “We are already seeing the impact on our environment with New Yorkers continuing to be imperiled by rising temperatures and incidents of extreme weather. Like so many other issues, when the federal government ignores the reality, New York steps up to lead the way and put forward real solutions. Our state’s energy vision is leading us toward the cleanest, most advanced, and efficient energy system in the nation. The Energy Storage Roadmap represents the next crucial step forward to tackle climate change and further develop our clean energy economy.”
The Roadmap provides a set of specific recommended actions to accelerate the deployment of energy storage projects in New York State and position the state as a leading national market for advanced energy storage projects. The plan was developed by the Department of Public Service and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority with input from numerous stakeholders.
The New York Power Authority is currently working on several energy storage projects that demonstrate the value of the technology, which will continue to increase as the Roadmap is implemented. This work includes a partnership with the State University of New York on multiple projects that would allow the university system to use stored solar power during emergencies and times of peak energy demand. A solar energy and battery storage system was completed this spring at the SUNY New Paltz campus. Planning is underway for a similar system at the SUNY Delhi campus.
Achieving the state’s ambitious 2025 target will deliver approximately $2 billion gross lifetime benefits to New Yorkers, including electric distribution system savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, as well as added resiliency to the electric grid by reducing the impact of outages caused by severe weather. Adding more energy storage into the system will also maximize the benefits of other renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, and will help to ensure they are available when needed to meet peak demand for electricity.
The Roadmap supports New York’s status as a home for the growing clean tech industry, which has the potential to create up to 30,000 new, good-paying jobs in the energy storage industry. It will build on New York’s commitment to combat climate change and grow the energy storage sector, which has already seen job growth of 30 percent in New York between 2012 and 2015.
“With this Roadmap, Governor Cuomo has brought New York once again to the forefront of the nation in developing new energy solutions that will fuel our efforts to build a cleaner energy system for future generations,” said Alicia Barton, President and CEO, NYSERDA. “The Roadmap will serve as a guide to jumpstarting the market for advanced energy storage projects in New York on our path to achieving 50% renewable energy by 2030 and turn the Empire State into a global hub for the burgeoning energy storage industry.”
New York State currently has approximately 60-MW of advanced energy storage capacity deployed with another 500-MW in the pipeline, in addition to 1,400-MW of traditional pumped hydro storage. In order to advance energy storage development in ways that are viable, replicable, and scalable, the Roadmap recommends:
- Providing $350 million in statewide market acceleration incentives to fast-track the adoption of advanced storage systems to be located at customer sites or on the distribution or bulk electric systems;
- Adding incentives for energy storage to NYSERDA’s successful NY-Sun initiative to accelerate the development of solar plus storage projects and allow those projects to access federal tax credits before they expire;
- Regulatory changes to utility rates, utility solicitations and carbon values to reflect the system benefits and values of storage projects;
- Continuing to address project permitting and siting challenges and reduce system indirect expenses and soft costs; and,
- Recommending modifications to wholesale market rules to better enable storage participation, including allowing storage to meet both electric distribution system and wholesale system needs to provide greater value for ratepayers.
Additionally, as proposed by Governor Cuomo in his 2018 State of the State, NY Green Bank seeks to invest at least $200 million in storage-related investments, which will help drive down costs for the strategic deployment of energy storage at scale. To support this commitment, NY Green Bank has released a Request for Information to solicit direct interest from project developers on how it can address financing gaps and support energy storage projects. NY Green Bank is also expected to issue a Request for Proposals later this year for projects combining solar and energy storage.
These recommendations and engagement commitments by NY Green Bank will not only advance New York toward its ambitious 2025 target as called for by Governor Cuomo, but also put New York on a path to meet a 2030 target, expected to be established by the Public Service Commission later this year.
“With this step, we advance valuable deployment of energy storage, in line with Governor Cuomo’s target established in his State of the State of 1,500 MW deployed by 2025, and in line with the Governor’s goal of 50% renewable energy by 2030 under his Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) strategy,” said Chair of the New York State Public Service Commission John B. Rhodessaid. “With viable and valuable energy storage systems we optimize our renewable energy sources and enhance grid reliability for the benefit of all New Yorkers.”
Filed Under: Energy storage, News, Policy
