New York approves 125MW AES solar project on industrial land

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
An AES solar project.
New York contracted an additional 1.5GW of solar capacity earlier this month. Image: AES.

The New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission (ORES) has issued its final siting permit for AES’ 125MW Somerset solar project.

The facility, which will be built in Nicaragua County, on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, is notable as it is the first project to be built on repurposed industrial land awarded a permit by ORES. The project will be built on land once covered by the Somerset Station coal plant, and portions of a landfill, which the office of New York governor Kathy Hochul said were “ideal” land types for solar development.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

“The Somerset solar array exemplifies New York state’s progress toward a clean energy economy,” added Hochul last Tuesday. “With the issuance of this siting permit, we are creating good-paying jobs in Western New York, while providing clean, sustainable energy for our families and businesses.”

The award of the permit follows what the governor’s office called a “timely, detailed and transparent review process,” and this is reflected in the project’s timeline. AES initially expected to secure permitting in the first quarter of 2022, begin construction in the third quarter of 2023 and commission the project in the third quarter of 2024.

AES now expects construction to take 18 months, which would put the project’s commissioning date at some point in 2026. The project was also originally planned to have a capacity of 135MW, which has since been revised down. Regardless, ORES has now approved 19 renewable energy projects, with a combined capacity of over 2.8GW, in New York state since 2021.

The news follows a number of positive developments in the state, including the installation of 6GW of distributed solar capacity in October, one year ahead of schedule. Earlier this month, the state contracted a further 2.3GW of large-scale renewable energy capacity, of which solar accounted for 1.5GW.

17 June 2025
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 17-18 June 2025, will be our fourth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2026 and beyond.
7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.

Read Next

June 9, 2025
Solar manufacturer Qcells has launched a recycling arm, called EcoRecycle, and a recycling plant in the US state of Georgia.
June 9, 2025
Growing political headwinds threaten to dent US solar manufacturing and project deployment, despite a strong start to 2025.
June 9, 2025
US residential solar installer Sunnova has laid off more than half of its workforce, while a subsidiary from Delaware filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
June 6, 2025
rPlus Energies has secured more than US$500 million for an 800MW solar-plus-storage project in Emery County, Utah, US.  
June 5, 2025
Policy uncertainty in the US is likely to disrupt investment in clean energy, according to a recent report from Crux.
June 5, 2025
Investment in clean energy and grids will reach US$2.2 trillion in 2025, double the expected investment into fossil fuels this year, according to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
June 17, 2025
Napa, USA
Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece