New York’s economic relief plan to back ‘rapid transition to clean renewable energy’

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Image: via NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's Twitter feed.

Badly hit by the COVID-19 crisis, New York State has opted to “dramatically speed up the siting and construction of clean energy projects” as one facet of its roadmap for economic comeback.

New York, led by Governor Andrew Cuomo, already had mandated ambitious goals for the switch to renewable and low carbon energy sources, including a 3GW target for energy storage deployment by 2030. Newly passed legislation will “help jumpstart the state’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 health crisis,” as well as stepping up the fight against climate change.

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

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) emailed PV Tech and sister site Energy-Storage.news over the weekend with the announcement. NYSERDA is one of the public agencies enacting the new legislation, which will help speed up the permitting of large-scale renewable and clean energy projects (defined as larger than 25MW, or between 20MW to 25MW), as well as the development of projects in areas such as landfills and abandoned or underused sites.

The new legislation will also make provisions to ensure that local communities and regions hosting these low-carbon energy projects will enjoy the greatest possible benefit and that the best possible strategic locations are selected. This will include an emphasis on planning the siting of projects to maximise the effectiveness with which renewable energy can be integrated into the local transmission and distribution grids. It also means, therefore, that the build-out of transmission and distribution grid infrastructure will get accelerated permitting, while a “bulk transmission investment programme” will also be created.

The raft of bills is called the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act and will be enacted by NYSERDA along with the NY State Department of State, its Department of Public Service, its Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and Empire State Development Corporation.

“While Governor Cuomo and the State work tirelessly to defeat COVID-19, we must continue to move forward and confront our climate crisis in order to protect New Yorkers from the dangerous consequences of a changing climate,” said Alicia Barton, president and CEO of NYSERDA.

“This new law will support a rapid transition to clean renewable energy sources and ensure that our enormous pipeline of large-scale renewable energy projects can be responsibly permitted, bolster the state’s economy, and deliver health, environmental, and economic benefits to all New Yorkers,” Barton added.

NYSERDA said that the legislation modernises the permitting process for energy projects – a process that was designed for the age of fossil fuel-powered centralised generation. The restart of construction of green energy projects will be a key part of “getting the economy back on track after the overcoming the COVID-19 crisis,” the agency’s press release said.

8 October 2024
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 8-9 October 2024 is our second PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The event in 2023 was a sell out success and 2024 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.

Read Next

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
April 10, 2024
Dallas, Texas USA
Solar Media Events
April 17, 2024
Lisbon, Portugal
Solar Media Events
May 1, 2024
Dallas, Texas
Solar Media Events
May 21, 2024
Napa, USA