Responding to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Energy Highway Initiative, Renewables Biz has reported that Entecco has submitted a project proposal for a PV or CPV project with a size up to 2,000MW that will be built in Seneca County, New York. Entecco’s Central Solar City (CSC) project would potentially be the largest single solar hub of its kind in the US.
The proposal outlines that the project size would range from around 20MW (100 acres) to 2,000MW (10,000 acres), the maximum configuration. The company noted that the earliest date the project can be operational is 10 to 12 months after contract approval for the first 20MW. Entecco anticipates that CSC will help New York reach its current goal of providing 30% of its energy consumption though renewable energy sources by 2015.
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“We understand that an increased reliance on renewable energy provided by projects with in-service dates later than 2015, helps support energy security and contributes to the diversity of the power supply,” said the proposal. “As suggested by the State of New York at a recent Energy Highway conference, CSC would support the central and western NY region during the decommissioning of coal fired plants and transmission capacity and as such could serve to increase the reliability of energy delivery.”
The initial 3,000 acres of property in Seneca County is currently zoned industrial by the local county government. There is more than 7,000 acres available for use if the plant should need the entire parcel. CSC will use products and components developed by General Electric, Eaton Electrical and other New York based companies.
Entecco’s proposal did mention financing, stating, “Entecco and its financial partners have done extensive research into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) for CSC. We propose to create a Special Purpose Entity (SPE) to build, own, and operate the facility over a 20 year period. We have also developed mechanisms to share the risk and rewards associated with a project of this type such as specialized and alternative Power Purchase Agreements (PPA).”
