Dive Brief:
- Consolidated Edison (ConEd) and its subsidiary Orange and Rockland Utilities (O&R) on July 15 issued a joint request for proposals (RFP) to procure at least 310 MW of bulk storage — 300 MW from Con Edison and 10 MW from O&R.
- The projects must be operational by Dec. 31, 2022 and eligible for a New York State Energy Research and Development Authority incentive according to the RFP.
- In December 2018, the New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC) formally adopted Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo's target, which calls for 1,500 MW of storage by 2025 and 3,000 MW by 2030.
Dive Insight:
New York's ambitious energy storage target is pushing utilities to procure significant amounts of storage over the next decade.
In December, the NYPSC ordered all New York utilities to procure at least 10 MW of energy storage, with the exception of ConEd, which was ordered to procure at least 300 MW.
In addition to ConEd and O&R, Avangrid subsidiaries, New York Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric, National Grid's subsidiary, Niagara Mohawk Power, and Central Hudson Gas & Electric were required to lay out plans for direct procurement to deploy at least 10 MW of energy storage each by the end of 2022.
The deadline for interested bidders to submit their qualifications for evaluation is Aug. 1 at 5 p.m. Eastern Prevailing Time, according to the joint RFP. Once bidders are qualified, they will be able to submit their RFP offers. The deadline to submit those offers is Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. EPT.
In April, Cuomo announced that the state will allocate $280 million for energy storage projects to accelerate the industry's growth and drive deployment.
In addition to increased resilience and reliability, likely welcomed news for New Yorkers following the city's recent blackout, energy storage is expected to help the state achieve its goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030 and shift to 100% clean electricity by 2040.
A recent study by the New York Department of Public Services showed that at least 275 MW of peaking units, or about 6% of the total rated capacity of New York's peaking fleet, were identified as potential candidates for replacement with six‐hour energy storage.
