New York governor’s Green New Deal starts with 1 GW of large-scale solar
With disgruntled civic leaders and NGOs from the U.S. making their presence felt at last month’s COP24 climate change convention in Katowice with a We Are Still In booth, New York governor Andrew Cuomo has illustrated just how effective state administrations can be when bypassing the White House.
Only days after unveiling his “Justice Agenda”, wherein the governor issued a call to raise the state’s renewable energy mandate from 50% to 70% of power generation by 2030 – and generate carbon-free electricity by 2040 – the New York Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced 20 solar, wind and battery storage projects totaling 1,654 MW of capacity.
The projects include 1,040 MW of solar in 16 projects across the state. The largest three will be built by big national developers, namely NextEra, Invenergy and EDF Renewables. The full list by capacity:
Excelsior Energy Center: Genessee County, 280 MW of solar plus 20 MW of energy storage
Horseshoe Solar: Livingston County, 180 MW
Morris Ridge Solar: Livingston County, 170 MW
Mohawk Solar: Montgomery County, 90 MW
North Light Energy Center: Seneca County, 80 MW
Watkins Glen Solar Energy Center: Schuyler County, 50 MW
Silver Lake Solar: Wyoming County, 25 MW
Stillwater Solar: Saratoga County, 20 MW
Clay Solar: Onandaga County, 20 MW
Dog Corners Solar: Cayuga County, 20 MW
Manchester Solar: Ontario County, 20 MW
Hills Solar: Herkimer County, 20 MW
Skyline Solar: Oneida County, 20 MW
Watkins Road Solar 1: Herkimer County, 20 MW
Bakerstand Solar 1:, Cattaraugus County, 20 MW
Hannacroix Solar Facility: Greene County: 5 MW
It is notable that NextEra’s Excelsior Energy Center will also include a 20 MW battery component. NextEra is the largest renewable energy developer in the United States and has also led on the integration of battery storage, including building the nation’s largest solar-plus-storage project to date.
