Dive Brief:

• A group of energy storage advocates has recommended New York pursue 4 GW of battery capacity by 2030 saying a mandate for utilities to acquire the resources is necessary to meet the state's emissions reductions goal.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) last year set a 50% renewable standard for the state, but clean energy advocates say meeting that goal will require sourcing a quarter of peak load from battery storage.
• According to Microgrid Knowledge, the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST) told regulators last month that boosting the state's energy storage would be essential to meeting renewables goals.

Dive Insight:

New York storage advocates want the state to set storage mandates, directing utilities to acquire battery resources in an effort to bring more renewable power online. The NY-BEST group filed in June with state regulators, according to Microgrid Knowledge, calling for a ramp-up in capacity from 500 MW in 2020, to 1 GW in 2022, and 2 GW by 2025, with 4 MW by 2030. 

The state's 50% renewables goal would require about a quarter of peak load to be sourced from storage, the group said.

“Energy storage is critical to providing flexibility for renewable resources, as well as achieving a host of REV objectives. There are multiple analyses which support the assertion that multi-hour storage assets of 4 GW or more will be needed in order for New York to meet the energy and emissions goals it has set for 2030, and NY-BEST concurs with these analyses,” the group said in its filing.

The group provided data from GE, which completed a study finding that at 4 GW of energy storage, New York would still see cost benefits from batteries. At 50% renewables, emissions would decline more than 40% and another 13% when storage is added, the study concluded.

The New York model could be similar to mandates in California, which in 2013 became the first state to require investor-owned utilities acquire battery storage. The state is targeting 1.325 GW by 2020.

NY-BEST in February released a "Energy Storage Roadmap for New York’s Electric Grid," laying out the need for more storage.

“Energy storage offers tremendous benefits for New York’s electric grid and economy," NY-BEST Executive Director William Acker said in a statement. "From its ability to provide power when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing, to its ability to eliminate the use of dirty peaker plants on the hottest summer days, energy storage is a cost-effective solution for many of the challenges facing New York’s electric grid."