The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has launched its third solicitation of the Competitive Solar Incentive (CSI) Program, seeking 300MW of solar PV and 160MWh of energy storage.
Non-residential solar facilities and qualifying grid supply solar facilities with a capacity greater of 5MW are eligible to participate in the third solicitation. It will also allow projects built on industrial land and floating solar.
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Another adjustment for this third auction is the reduction of Tranche 4’s capacity target for net-metered non-residential projects greater than 5MW. In order to encourage more participation in other tranches, Tranche 4 capacity target has been reduced from 40MW to 15MW.
According to the NJBPU, it will continue its policy to prioritise solar projects sited on land which is not optimal for other development – such as warehouses rooftops or remediated contaminated sites – and away from the state’s open spaces.
At the end of 2024, the state of New Jersey had a cumulative of 5.5GW solar PV installed, ranking as the tenth US state in total added PV, according to data from trade association the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). SEIA forecasts 2.6GW of added solar PV over the next five years.
Pre-qualification for the third solicitation will open on 14 May 2025 with bids closing on 23 July 2025.
The previous solicitation, held last year, ended up awarding 310.21MW of solar PV and 80MWh of energy storage paired with solar, whereas the first one closed having awarded no solar PV or energy storage capacity at all. This was because all bids had a price higher than the pre-determined price cap set by the NJBPU.
“Today’s board action proves the future of solar is strong in New Jersey and builds upon years of action expanding the reach of solar in our great state,” said NJBPU President Christine Guhl-Sadovy. “In the last seven years, through our robust solar programming including CSI and community solar, we’ve doubled the amount of solar energy on our grid. This growth in solar in New Jersey and across our region has helped save hundreds of millions in avoided electricity costs for ratepayers. I’m excited to see where the next round of CSI takes us.”
This programme was created after New Jersey’s governor Phil Murphy signed into law the Solar Act of 2021 in June of that year. The Act aimed to incentivise the development of 3.75GW of solar PV by 2026, through a new incentive programme called the Successor Solar Incentive (SuSI) Program, which is divided into two sub-programmes, one of which is the CSI. The CSI programme is aimed to reduce costs of solar development and encourage grid-scale and other qualifying projects in the state of New Jersey.
The other programme – dubbed Administratively Determined Incentive (ADI) – aims to provide a fixed incentive payment to net metered residential and commercial and industrial (C&I) solar projects up to 5MW in size.
Moreover, two years later in 2023, Murphy announced a set of new clean energy and climate change initiatives, including the state’s commitment to reach 100% clean energy by 2035.
Community solar expansion
On the same day (Wednesday 23 April), the NJBPU approved the extension of its community solar programme by 250MW, through the Community Solar Energy Program (CSEP).
Some changes have been made with the expansion of the community solar programme, including the inclusion of low- and moderate-income (LMI) customers to self-attest to their eligibility.
In addition, local governments may now submit registrations for automatic enrollment projects, whereby municipalities may select hard-to-reach households to be directly subscribed to community solar projects and receive savings without residents needing to take action.
Registration for new projects under the 250MW capacity extension will open on 30 April 2025, with projects accepted on a first-come, first-served basis
Since its first capacity allocation back in November 2023, the CSEP has seen over 500MW of community solar projects registered into the programme, according to NJBPU.
PV Tech publisher Solar Media will be organising the fourth edition of Large Scale Solar USA in Dallas, Texas 29-30 April. After a record year for solar PV additions in the US, the event will dive into the ongoing uncertainties on tariffs, tax credits and trade policies as more domestic manufacturing becomes operational. Other challenges, such as the interconnection queues and permitting, will also be covered in Dallas. More information, including how to attend, can be read here.
