NYS Eyes Three ‘Underutilized’ Sites for Renewable Energy Development

ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has signed three agreements to explore the possibility for renewable energy development in the Southern Tier, Western New York and Long Island. 

Under the terms of memorandums of understanding, the agency’s Build-Ready Program will collaborate with Ithaca College, the City of Niagara Falls and the Town of East Hampton to explore the development of renewable energy projects of so-called “underutilized” sites, such as landfills and parking lots.

The deals, announced on Friday, came just days after the state saw its offshore wind energy hopes dashed by GE Vernova’s decision not to build what would have been the largest turbine model in the world, coming in at 18 MWs a piece.

The huge turbines were to be the cornerstone of three wind projects that New York provisionally approved last year — the 1,314 MW Excelsior Wind, 1,214 MW Community Offshore Wind and 1,404 MW Attentive Energy One.

Also provisionally approved based on the application of the now-scrapped turbines was a $300 million grant to GE Vernova and LM Wind Power to manufacture the equipment needed for the projects in New York’s Capital Region.

Though GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik had been bullish on the large turbines last year during a GE investor call, the company did an about face earlier this year and announced it would focus on building smaller turbines instead.

“Subsequent to the provisional award announcement, material modifications to projects bid … caused technical and commercial complexities between provisional awardees and their partners, resulting in the provisionally awarded parties’ inability to come to terms,” NYSERDA said on its project solicitation page.

The decision to nix the projects was a major blow to the state’s plan to generate 70% of its power with renewable energy by the end of the decade.

But the announcement of the new agreements for land-based renewable energy were a sign the state is going to continue to try to move toward its goal.

“New York continues to cultivate a portfolio of underutilized sites that offer municipalities and the private sector opportunities to reimagine these spaces and turn them into revenue-generating sources of clean energy,” said NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris in a written statement.

“These agreements with the Town of East Hampton, City of Niagara Falls and Ithaca College will help us further explore the potential of these projects and we look forward to ongoing collaboration with municipalities and partners across the state as we work with local communities to meet New York’s 70 by 30 renewable energy goal,” she said.

The agreement with Ithaca College involves several parking lots on the college’s campus. The parking lots are being considered for hosting solar canopies that will provide shade for vehicles while generating clean energy and supporting clean transportation with the potential integration of electric vehicle chargers and battery energy storage systems. 

The deal with the City of Niagara Falls would result in an underutilized city-owned property being redeveloped into a solar farm.

Meanwhile, the agreement with the Town of East Hampton would involve 11 municipality-owned sites, including municipal landfills and parking lots, that are being considered as sites for ground-mounted or canopy solar projects.

According to NYSERDA, the Build-Ready Program has already screened over 17,000 locations for their potential for renewable energy development, and is currently putting dozens of sites through more advanced assessment and development.

The agency also continued to encourage local community members, elected officials, private companies, environmental justice communities or other interested parties to nominate additional potential Build-Ready sites, which it says will be considered on a rolling basis.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue