Veronica PiscitelliNew York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the launch of the state’s first Bulk Energy Storage program on July 28, seeking to procure one gigawatt (GW) of bulk energy storage.
The grid-hardening effort is part of the state’s Six GW Energy Storage Roadmap, which is designed to enhance the state’s electricity generation and storage resources. Adding bulk energy storage to the grid will help lower costs, optimize the generation and transmission of power, enhance energy grid infrastructure, and ensure the reliability and resilience of the state’s electricity system, according to state officials.
The request for proposals (RFP) is administered by the New York State Energy Reasearch and Development Authority (NYSERDA) through its Bulk Energy Storage Program. The competitive solicitation seeks to advance a range of energy storage technologies and advance the procurement of three GW of bulk energy storage over three solicitation cycles.
The program employs Index Storage Credit (ISC) incentive modeled in part after the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) and Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Credit (OREC) utilized in other NYSERDA programs. The ISC is a market-based mechanism that gives project owners greater funding certainty and provides incentives to participate in wholesale energy and capacity markets. ISCs will be created based on a project’s operational availability and will represent one megawatt (MW) hour of energy storage capacity that is operational and available to discharge on a given day.
Projects will be credited and compensated based on the operational availability they achieve in each month over the course of the long-term contracts, which are expected to last 15 to 25 years each. Prior to NYSERDA ISC disbursement, projects will be required to complete permitting, peer reviews, inspection, installation and initial operations.
This round’s application, covering “Step One” and initial qualifying efforts, is due to NYSERDA by Sept. 4. All project proposers must include a comprehensive safety and security plan detailing how they will adhere to the Bulk Energy Storage Program Manual Requirements. The NYSERDA-supported energy projects are also contractually required to meet the new storage safety codes recently adopted into Uniform Code.
Once proposals are deemed eligible by NYSERDA, they will be invited to submit a bid proposal for project evaluation as part of “Step Two.” These applications will be due December 11. New York’s Six GW Energy Storage Roadmap recommends the deployment of six GW of energy storage and authorizes funds for NYSERDA to support 200 MW of new residential-scale energy storage and 1,500 MW of new commercial and community-scale energy. At least 35% of the benefits of the new energy storage projects are allocated to disadvantaged communities.
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