New York launched new incentives for Large Solar Projects

I've been checking out New York's solar development on regular basis after learning about their Free Street Solar Chargers at selected locations within NYC and recently I saw this article in my email subscription.

New York has come up with several interesting incentives for solar projects carried out within the next 2 years. For us readers, it's sufficient to know they set aside $1 billion for this purpose, which is apart from existing ones.

But for SEDA (the body which manage the renewable energy projects implementation in Malaysia), they may want to look at it more detailed. There maybe nothing in it but there's no harm looking. The US is one of the nations with biggest capacity in new solar PV installation.

Statue of Liberty in New York. Image from Wikimedia Commons. Read about Commons here.

Here's the excerpt from Renewable Energy World:

New incentives for Large Solar Projects

Following the recent announcement to commit an additional $1 billion to New York solar incentives over the next decade, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) unveiled the next anticipated funding program for large solar systems, over 200 kW in size. This round of funding closely resembles previous offerings, and does not appear to be part of the "megawatt block" structure highlighted in the April announcement. 

Program Opportunity Notice (PON) went live in mid-May, promising $60 million in available incentives or more, to be awarded at NYSERDA's discretion. Applications are due July 17th, 2014 and all systems must come online by April of 2016.


Some changes from previous Large Solar Incentives

All New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) load zones are in play. Several favorable tweaks to this year's program, compared to earlier New York solar incentive rounds indicate a willingness on NYSERDA's part to see this program drive more project development this year than ever before. 

In previous PONs for large projects, awardees received the full incentive amount in five payments — 30% at project completion paid out in two upfront installments, and 70% paid out as a PBI split between the first three years of production. In the new PON, 30% upfront payment occur in one installment instead of two, and the remaining 70% condensed to only two years' worth of production, paid at year's end.


Renewable Energy Storage and Efficiency

This program also incorporates several tie-ins to storage and efficiency for applicable solar projects, echoing the New York State Public Service Commission's recent landmark initiative rethinking New York's energy future.

An additional $50,000 in incentives may be awarded to each project that integrates energy efficiency or storage at the customer site. Energy efficiency projects must reduce energy use intensity (kBtu/sq ft/year) by at least 15% over the baseline energy use intensity.

Storage projects must provide at minimum 250 kW of load management, demand management, or improved load factor. Finally, projects located in Strategic Locations (determined by each individual utility) will receive an additional 25% above the Project Incentive.

You can read further at REW