New York to make $15M available to fund energy storage projects

Dive Brief:

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has announced it has $15.5 million in funding for energy storage projects.
The funding, which is being provided through the state’s Clean Energy Fund, is part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) program that is revamping the state’s electric power industry.
The funding is aimed at supporting projects that can demonstrate how storage can provide multiple benefits to a variety of stakeholders while increasing the flexibility of the state’s power system.

Dive Insight:

As part of its REV program, New York regulators recently issued an order on new structures for compensating distributed energy resources.

The order’s main focus is on community solar projects, but could eventually encompass the integration of standalone energy storage and small, local clean energy resources.

REV has already spurred a variety of projects, including a 1 MW, 4 MWh demonstration storage project in New York City being developed by Consolidated Edison in partnership with NRG Energy.

The state has also been funding other types of pilot projects as part of REV. Last month NYSERDA announced awards of $11 million for 11 microgrid projects in the state. In the first phase of that program 83 municipalities were awarded $100,000 to conduct feasibility studies for microgrids.

For the energy storage awards, NYSERDA will select the best projects to submit follow-up proposals for feasibility studies or for full demonstration projects. Initial concept papers will be accepted through March 1, 2020, or until all funds are committed.

NYSERDA is looking for papers that highlight technologies that are already commercially available and have the potential for replication throughout the state. The proposed projects must be able to demonstrate how they can support the state’s energy goals, including renewable generation and greenhouse gas reduction.

New York is targeting that 50% of the state's electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2030.