Under New York State’s comprehensive Energy Storage Roadmap, released June 29 by Governor Andrew Cuomo, the State government will seek to facilitate the development of 1500 MW of electricity storage by 2025. The target was first announced by the Governor in his State of the State address earlier this year.
New York State currently has approximately 60 MW of advanced energy storage capacity deployed, with another 500 MW in the pipeline, in addition to 1,400-megawatts of traditional pumped hydro storage. In order to advance energy storage development in ways that are viable, replicable, and scalable, the Roadmap recommends:
• Providing $350 million in statewide market acceleration incentives to fast-track the adoption of advanced storage systems to be located at customer sites or on the distribution or bulk electric systems;
• Adding incentives for energy storage to NYSERDA's successful NY-Sun initiative to accelerate the development of solar plus storage projects and allow those projects to access federal tax credits before they expire;
• Regulatory changes to utility rates, utility solicitations and carbon values to reflect the system benefits and values of storage projects;
• Continuing to address project permitting and siting challenges and reduce system indirect expenses and soft costs; and,
• Recommending modifications to wholesale market rules to better enable storage participation, including allowing storage to meet both electric distribution system and wholesale system needs to provide greater value for ratepayers.
The New York Power Authority is currently working on several energy storage projects that demonstrate the value of the technology, which will continue to increase as the Roadmap is implemented. This work includes a partnership with the State University of New York on multiple projects that would allow the university system to utilize stored solar power during emergencies and times of peak energy demand. A solar energy and battery storage system was completed this spring at the SUNY New Paltz campus. Planning is underway for a similar system at the SUNY Delhi campus.