Gov. Kathy Hochul has released New York’s sixth competitive solicitation calling for 2,000 MW or more of new large-scale renewable energy projects. The projects will have the capacity to power at least 600,000 New York homes and maintain the predictable pace of state-contracted opportunities for private renewable energy developers. Once selected, the development of these projects is expected to spur nearly $3 billion in clean energy investments and create over 2,000 family-sustaining jobs in the green economy. Bringing more clean energy onto the grid accelerates progress toward achieving New York’s goal to obtain 70% of electricity statewide from renewable sources by 2030.

“Renewable energy is the backbone of New York’s sweeping approach to cleaning our electric grid and offers the industry a reliable path to join in our clean energy transition for the benefit of all New Yorkers,” states Gov. Hochul. “The strong public-private partnerships formed to build these projects will allow us not only to drastically lower emissions in our fight against climate change but will result in thousands of new green jobs, billions of dollars in economic growth, and an injection of private investment into local communities.”

New York is contracting with over 120 new large-scale land-based renewable energy facilities including solar farms, onshore wind farms, and hydroelectric facilities – some of which have been paired with energy storage. The projects selected through this solicitation are expected to generate approximately 4.5 million MWh of renewable electricity per year.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) expects to notify the awarded developers in the spring of 2023. Payments under these awards will not commence until projects have obtained all required permits and approvals and become operational to power New York.  

“Coming off a historic award group earlier this year, New York is moving ahead with full force as we look to build more large-scale renewable energy projects across the state in our march towards the state’s renewable energy goal and beyond,” says Doreen M. Harris, NYSERDA’s president and CEO. “Gov. Hochul is committed to ensuring local communities have a voice in the development of these projects, and NYSERDA looks forward to working with the selected developers and host municipalities to ensure these projects are advanced responsibly and bring forward substantial community and economic benefits.”

Notable provisions in this solicitation include delivering job creation and benefits to disadvantaged communities by favorably evaluating projects that can tangibly advance benefits for these historically underserved communities, and strongly encouraging workforce development commitments and partnerships with labor and trade organizations.

It sets a minimum U.S. iron and steel purchase requirement to encourage the utilization of domestic steel in the construction of solar and wind facilities and requiring developers to provide opportunities for U.S.-based steel suppliers to participate in the renewable energy industry, in keeping with the intent of the New York Buy American Act.

The solicitation requires that workers associated with the construction of any awarded facility be paid the applicable prevailing wage to ensure construction quality and ensure family-sustaining jobs for New Yorkers. It encourages and preferentially evaluates developers that commit to utilizing New York State Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Businesses (SDVOBs). It also incentivizes proposers to avoid development on the highest-quality agricultural lands and commit to co-utilization measures to support continued agricultural operations as well as funding to support regional agricultural operations.

The solicitation ensures that communities that will host successfully awarded projects are fully involved in the development process, and that proposers demonstrate a commitment to frequent and active community engagement. It continues to encourage proposals that cost-effectively pair renewable energy with energy storage technologies, including preferential evaluation of proposals that site storage facilities in primarily fossil-served regions of the state to combat the acute impacts of pollution that disadvantaged communities have disproportionately borne. 

Eligible projects include any large-scale renewable project that can be certified as a Tier 1 renewable technology and entered operation after January 1, 2015. Participating projects not yet in operation must show evidence that they are capable of reaching commercial operation May 2025, with the option to extend to May 2028.

Interested proposers can apply on NYSERDA’s Tier 1 Solicitations webpage. Step One Eligibility Applications are due on November 16, 2022, by 3:00 p.m. ET.

Read more about the solicitation and additional comments by officials here.

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The world’s wind and solar projects combined to meet more than a tenth of global electricity demand for the first time in 2022, according to research company BloombergNEF (BNEF). At the same time, overall electricity demand, production from coal-fired power plants and emissions all surged in 2021 as the global economy regained its footing following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“New spikes in coal generation are a troubling sign for the economy, our health and the fight against climate change,” says Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, and founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies. “This report should be a rallying cry to leaders around the world that the transition to clean energy requires bigger and bolder actions, including actions that empower nations that have contributed the least to climate change – but bear many of its worst consequences – to make progress tackling it.”

With nearly 3,000 TWh of electricity produced, wind and solar accounted for a combined 10.5% of global 2021 generation, BNEF found in its annual Power Transition Trends report. Wind’s contribution to the global total rose to 6.8% while solar climbed to 3.7%. A decade ago, these two technologies combined accounted for well under 1% of total electricity production. In all, 39% of all power produced globally in 2021 was carbon free. Hydro and nuclear projects met just over one quarter of the world’s electricity needs.

Every year since 2017, wind and solar have accounted for the majority of new power-generating capacity added to global grids. In 2021, they hit a record three-quarters of the 364 GW of new capacity built. Including hydro, nuclear and others, zero-carbon power accounted for 85% of all new capacity added.

“Renewables are now the default choice for most countries looking to add or even replace power-generating capacity,” states Luiza Demôro, head of energy transitions at BloombergNEF. “This is no longer due to mandates or subsidies, but simply because these technologies are more often the most cost-competitive.”

Solar continued to expand at a particularly fierce pace in 2021, both in terms of new capacity additions and new markets. Solar was half of all global capacity added, at 182 GW. Its contribution to global grids topped 1,000 TWh for the first time. Solar has also become essentially ubiquitous. In nearly half of all countries tracked by BNEF where some capacity was added, solar was the top choice in terms of volume. At least 112 countries now have at least one MW of solar capacity installed.

Despite the incredible inroads renewables have made, the Power Transition Trends report paints a stark picture of the enormous work that remains for the power system to address its role in climate change. As the global economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, electricity demand surged 5.6% year-on-year, putting new strains on existing infrastructure and fossil fuel supply chains.

Lower-than-expected production from hydro plants and higher natural gas prices also helped put coal-fired power back in the spotlight in more markets. Production from coal plants set records by jumping 8.5% from 2020-2021 (up 750 TWh on a net basis), to 9,600 TWh. Over 85% of that generation came from 10 countries, with China, India and the U.S. alone accounting for 72%.

Meanwhile, countries continued to complete constructions of new coal plants in 2021, and coal still accounts for the single largest share of global capacity at 27%. One small bright spot: the speed at which new coal is being added to the grid is slowing. Just 13 GW of new coal-fired capacity was completed in 2021, down from 31 GW in 2020 and 83 GW in 2012.

Nonetheless, the result was a commensurate 7% spike in global CO2 emissions from the power sector in 2021 compared to 2020. Power-sector emissions set a new high at 13,600 mega tons of CO2, BNEF estimates.

“It was a year of highs and highs, for the best and worst reasons,” comments Ethan Zindler, head of Americas at BNEF. “Renewables grew very fast, but coal’s comeback and the fact that countries – including those that have pledged to achieve net-zero emissions – continue building coal is really disconcerting.” BNEF’s Power Transition Trends report was produced in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and will be officially released at the United Nations Climate Action: Race to Zero and Resilience Forum in New York today. Read the full report here.

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SunPower, a residential solar technology and energy services provider, has expanded its portfolio of energy storage products with the launch of a 19.5 kWh and 39 kWh SunVault. These new battery configurations offer increased energy density and maximize space within the battery as compared to previous versions of SunVault, providing the ability to store more energy into a single box. For customers, this means they can purchase more energy storage for less money and fit it in less wall space, with the option to build a larger system as the home’s energy needs evolve. SunPower has also made design upgrades that can make SunVault faster and easier to install.

“Every homeowner has unique energy storage needs – some want the peace of mind that they can power essentials during a blackout like a refrigerator and WiFi, while others want the flexibility to also charge an EV or run their air conditioning,” says Nate Coleman, chief products officer at SunPower. “With these new storage sizes and higher power output through multiple inverters, SunVault’s modular configuration allows customers to get the storage size they need today with the reassurance that they can grow their system as their home energy requirements change.”

Homeowners can manage their SunVault energy storage with the mySunPower app to see how much energy is available during peak-demand to reserve for an outage or lower energy costs by using stored energy. Further, all SunVault energy storage systems are backed by a 10-year warranty, regardless of how much the battery is charged and drained over time.

With this launch, SunVault is now available in five configurations: 13 kWh, 19.5 kWh, 26 kWh, 39 kWh and 52 kWh. Some of these options include multiple inverters. SunVault configurations with multiple inverters and storage capacity of 26 kWh and more have the potential to power the whole home, so customers don’t have to choose between comfort and essential loads during an outage.

The new SunVault sizes will be available beginning early 2023.

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