Dive Brief:

• New York has awarded five clean energy projects grants totaling $175 million, aimed at meeting the state's Reforming the Energy Vision goals to increase renewable energy sources.
• The largest project will be a 100 MW wind farm developed on the western portion of the state by RES America Developments.
• Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) also announced that New York State Energy Research and Development Authority will issue one more RPS Main Tier solicitation for larger renewable projects in 2016, expected to be funded through the state's Clean Energy Fund.

Dive Insight:

New York continues to fund projects aimed at its REV strategy, and the latest five represent a broad range of resources and technologies. The five project's tapped by Cuomo's administration include:

• RES America Developments' 100 MW Ball Hill Wind Farm, to be constructed in Villenova and Hanover.
• Orbit Energy NYC's 9.6 MW anaerobic digestion biogas-to-electricity facility in Staten Island. The project will utilize food waste and other organic materials provided by restaurants, supermarkets and food manufacturers.
• Northbrook Lyons Falls LLC will add 5.2 MW to an existing hydroelectric facility in Lewis County, resulting in a total installed capacity of more than 11 MW.
• Morgan Stanley plans to install a 790 kW fuel cell in its Manhattan offices, contributing both lower-emission generation and load reduction.
• And Erie Boulevard Hydropowe will install a new 560 kW minimum flow turbine at a hydroelectric facility in Oswego County, which will generate power using minimum flows required by the project’s license.

"These five projects will bring clean energy and economic development to both upstate and downstate, growing the state's energy economy and supporting Governor Cuomo's vision for a more diverse power delivery system," NYSERDA President and CEO John Rhodes said in a statement. "Under the State’s 2015 Energy Plan, New York now has a clear path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the use of renewable energy resources, and these projects help advance the plan’s goals."

The five projects will add approximately 116 MW of renewable capacity, which New York said is enough energy to supply over 54,000 average-sized homes per year. 

NYSERDA also said it would issue one more RPS Main Tier solicitation for larger renewable projects in 2016. Under a newly established large-scale renewables proceeding before the Public Service Commission, the Authority proposed a $1.5 billion public investment over ten years for large-scale renewables, which it said is comparable to the level of investment made over the past decade through the existing RPS. 

For every $1 invested in RPS Main Tier projects, NYSERDA estimates the state sees about $3 in economic benefits.

Along with boosting deployment of renewable energy, the New York REV Initiative also aims to reform utility business models, transforming them into distribution system platform providers for a variety of distributed resources.