New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced the first round of funding for the $15 million Future Grid Challenge — a program to help solve technical challenges utilities face with energy transmission and distribution when integrating renewables into New York’s electric grid.
“New York is leading the fight against climate change and prioritizing more resiliency and reliability during extreme weather events,” Governor Cuomo said.
Up to $3 million is available per challenge area in New York for technologies that are able to help utilities overcome electric grid transmission and distribution challenges.
“These investments will add renewables such as wind and solar to create a grid of the future that serves the needs of communities across the state and drives us toward a clean, fully carbon-free power grid,” he added.
Modernizing the grid supports the Governor’s nation-leading mandate for 70% renewable electricity by 2030 and a carbon-free power grid by 2040 as included in the historic climate legislation that was just passed by the legislature, the New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
“Using the latest technological advances, New York will continue advancing our clean energy and climate goals by integrating renewables, driving down carbon emissions, and safeguarding our natural resources for future generations,” said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. “This announcement shows our commitment to developing and maintaining the infrastructure needed to build the grid of the future and advance cleaner, greener energy across the state.”
Administered by the New York State Energy Research Development Authority (NYSERDA), the Future Grid Challenge will offer funding to grid technology companies and research institutions that will address challenges ranging from the need for greater real-time system data to incorporating smart technologies and energy storage into power grid planning and operations. This initiative will have two rounds with each round addressing different challenge areas.
In this first round of funding, up to $6 million is available for projects that partner with Con Edison and Orange & Rockland utilities with up to $3 million available per utility challenge to support development of technical solutions.
Proposals should focus on:
- Helping Con Ed advance Distributed Energy Resource (DER) monitoring, control, data analytics, and advanced forecasting
- Assisting Orange and Rockland with improving smart inverter functionality to provide seamless integration of distributed resources, improve grid stability, and reduce system losses
“Deploying renewable energy such as solar, storage and wind at scale as we transition to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040 requires continued investments in innovative grid modernization technologies like those supported under the Future Grid Challenge,” said Alicia Barton, President and CEO, NYSERDA. “Under Governor Cuomo, New York remains steadfast in its commitment to advancing clean energy solutions and this challenge will help identify forward-thinking approaches to some of the most critical energy challenges faced by interfacing and operating with the power grid.”
Proposals are due by October 9, 2019. The remaining funds will be made available through the second round of the program later in 2019 with new challenges and utilities identified and included.
To prepare for this important initiative, NYSERDA’s Smart Grid team has worked with the Joint Utilities of New York members Con Edison, Central Hudson Gas & Electric, National Grid, New York State Electric and Gas, Rochester Gas and Electric, and Orange & Rockland to identify transmission and distribution challenges that each utility faces. Together, these utilities provide electric service to over 13 million households, businesses, and government facilities across New York State.
Each specific challenge was developed in partnership with the utilities, and each utility will participate in the selection committee for their respective challenge. To be eligible for an award, proposals submitted must specifically address the unique challenges identified for the selected utilities.
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