Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, D-N.Y., has announced that $40 million will be made available to support solar projects that integrate energy storage.
The governor says this funding will help accelerate progress toward New York’s energy storage target of 1.5 GW by 2025, as well as Cuomo’s mandate that 50% of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030.
“As we continue our aggressive pursuit of clean, renewable technologies, funding for projects like this will ensure New York remains at the forefront of the global fight against climate change,” the governor says. “The strategic pairing of energy storage and solar technologies moves us closer to building a clean energy economy that protects critical natural resources and benefits all New Yorkers.”
The NY-Sun program will make $40 million available in early November for the development of solar-plus-storage projects. NY-Sun is Cuomo’s $1 billion investment to build a self-sustaining solar market in New York State. The program has already completed85,327 solar projects with a total capacity of 1,203.2 MW and an expected annual production of 1,395 GWh.
This new funding is estimated to kick-start the deployment of at least 50 MW of energy storage paired with solar. These funds will be the first storage incentive funds made available since the release of the New York State Energy Storage Roadmap in June.
To ensure that communities are informed about the benefits of co-locating storage with solar systems and are prepared to review the zoning and local tax implications of these projects, the New York State Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will perform outreach to communities where projects are proposed and provide technical resources, including adding an energy storage chapter to its solar guidebook for communities.
“Since its inception, NY-Sun has advanced and completed thousands of projects across the state, bringing us closer to meeting New York’s renewable energy goals by 2030,” comments Alicia Barton, president and CEO of NYSERDA. “By pairing solar and storage projects, the state will accelerate our pace of progress towards Governor Cuomo’s aggressive renewable energy and energy storage targets at even lower costs.”
