State awards $54 million for solar-power projects

Cornell University in Ithaca, Clarkson University in Potsdam, and the State University of New York College at Cortland (SUNY Cortland) are among the potential sites that could benefit from state funding for solar-power projects.

 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday awarded $54 million to 20 recipients under his NY-Sun initiative to finance 79 large-scale, solar-energy projects statewide.

 

The potential beneficiaries include six sites in Central New York, two locations in the North Country, and three sites in the Southern Tier. The sites are pending approval of permitting and other requirements, according to the governor’s office.

 

The new projects will add 64 megawatts to the state’s solar capacity, the governor’s office said in a news release.

 

The projects are located at colleges, businesses, factories, municipal buildings, and other larger commercial and industrial companies and institutions.

 

Some projects may be on line by the end of the year, but most projects won’t finish until the first half of next year, the governor’s office said.

 

The NY-Sun initiative will deploy more photovoltaic (PV) systems statewide than in the prior decade. The state’s $54 million, awarded through a competitive program, leverages $120 million in private investment, resulting in about $174 million in infrastructure projects, according to the governor’s office.

 

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) administers the NY-Sun Competitive PV Program, which provides incentives for PV systems larger than 50 kilowatts. The state caps the funding per project at $3 million, and all projects require co-funding to leverage state resources, Cuomo’s office said.

 

The state is awarding funding to more projects in this round, citing a reduction in incentive amounts that have followed a “steady” decline in solar costs in the past two years, according to the governor’s office.

 

In that time period, the portfolio-weighted average incentive fell from $1.30 per watt to 93 cents a watt, and then to 88 cents per watt.

 

The awards represent a portfolio-weighted average incentive of 84 cents a watt, or about 31 percent of the cost to build these projects.

 

The projects are meant to produce power for on-site use, not for direct sale to utilities. Under certain circumstances, however, unused power can be added to the grid in exchange for future utility credit.

 

The solar developers or host sites that served as prime applicants receiving these awards include National Grid Energy Management LLC, according to the governor’s office.

 

 

 

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com