New York mulls solar on underutilised sites, offers USD 5m for LDES

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) this week unveiled the consideration of two underutilised sites for potential renewables development and over USD 5 million (EUR 4.66m) in funding for long-duration energy storage projects.

UNDERUTILISED SITES

On Thursday, NYSERDA said it has entered into memoranda of understanding with Tompkins County in the Southern Tier and Niagara County in Western New York to look into the feasibility of developing renewable energy projects on two otherwise underutilised sites.

The first site is a 67-acre area northeast of the runways of the Tompkins County-owned Ithaca Tompkins International Airport, located in Lansing. The airport and county are considering hosting a solar and battery energy storage system there.

The second MOU concerns the 60-acre Witmer Road Landfill located in Wheatfield. NYSERDA said that this landfill was operational from 1969 to 1976 and is now capped and closed. A solar project is being considered for development on the site.

The two new agreements allow NYSERDA’s Build-Ready Program to undertake further due diligence and community engagement to review the prospects of multiple large-scale renewable energy projects, NYSERDA said.

FUNDING FOR LDES

A day earlier, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the availability of more than USD 5 million for long-duration energy storage (LDES) projects through the state’s Renewable Optimization and Energy Storage Innovation Program. The NYSERDA-administered funding is being made available through a competitive solicitation for projects involving LDES solutions, devices, software, controls, and other complementary technologies which are yet to be commercialised.

Interested parties can submit their proposals by September 24, 2024.

Under the current Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the state of New York targets installing 3,000 MW of energy storage by 2030.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.933)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!