The New York Power Authority on Tuesday issued a request for information on the development of renewables and battery storage necessary to help meet the state’s climate goals. The RFI follows a 2023 decision by state lawmakers giving NYPA broad authority to build and own renewable energy projects.
NYPA wants to “engage with renewable developers directly to identify opportunities in the energy marketplace,” power authority President and CEO Justin Driscoll said in a statement.
New York law requires the state to get 70% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030 and achieve a zero-emission power sector by 2040. According to NYPA’s Conferral Report, published in November, the state has sufficient operating, contracted and under-development renewable energy projects to supply 79% of its 2030 electricity needs.
As of January 2023, the state had a pipeline of large-scale projects representing about 62,000 annual GWh of renewable generation, ”or an additional ~39%.”
“NYPA’s unique position as an innovative public utility allows us to bring our resource and experience to bear to build projects in timely, economical ways. The results of this RFI will inform the Power Authority’s next steps,” Driscoll said.
RFI responses are due Feb. 7. NYPA said it is open to feedback from all parties but “is particularly interested in responses from private sector renewable developers, contractors, and companies.” The RFI is focused on solar photovoltaic energy, wind energy and battery energy storage.
NYPA operates 16 generating facilities, mostly hydropower, and is the largest state public power organization in the nation. The utility primarily serves local and state government entities, and municipal and rural cooperative electric systems, and typically has not retained staff to design or build projects. Instead, NYPA has tended to solicit renewables development through private partners.
In May, however, the New York Legislature passed a budget that directed NYPA to develop renewable energy projects in an effort to help the state cut statewide greenhouse gas emissions 85% below 1990 levels by 2050.
Independent power producers criticized the decision at the time.
“There’s no shortage of private companies” seeking to finance and build renewable energy projects in New York, Gavin Donohue, president and CEO of the Independent Power Producers of New York, told Utility Dive.
