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| The NY-Sun Initiative will invest US$107 million in large-scale PV projects in New York, US, over a 2-year period. |
Through the NY-Sun Initiative - a programme which aims to co-ordinate a well-funded solar energy expansion plan - US$107 million will be injected into the NY-Sun Competitive PV Program to facilitate the development of large-scale PV systems throughout New York, US, Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced.
The NY-Sun Competitive PV Program is a newly established programme administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). It invites proposals for the installation of large-scale PV systems which generate a capacity of 50kW or more for businesses, factories, municipal buildings and other larger commercial and industrial customers throughout the city.
Specifically, the investment will focus on PV projects in New York City and upstate New York. A previous two-year-old programme had focused solely on large-scale PV systems for the commercial, industrial and municipal sectors exclusively in New York City, Westchester County and the lower Hudson Valley.
Through this latest programme, US$36.4 million will be available in 2012 and US$70.5 million in 2013. However, all projects will require co-funding with funding capped at US$3 million per project.
As part of the first round of the NY-Sun Competitive PV Program, project proposals are due November 8, 2012, whilst the remaining two due dates for this programme will have a deadline in the first and third quarters of 2013.
According to Governor Cuomo, the NY-Sun programmes will help to “further drive job growth in the state’s clean power industry and create economic development in communities across New York. I encourage all businesses and municipalities eligible for these grants to apply.”
This was reiterated by Francis J. Murray Jr., president and CEO of NYSERDA. “For the last two years, NYSERDA funding has helped spark interest in a wide variety of large solar power projects in some of the most densely populated areas of the state. Governor Cuomo’s NY-Sun Initiative will expand and stimulate the growth and deployment of solar technology while at the same time reducing demand on the grid throughout the state.”
The NY-Sun initiative was launched by Governor Cuomo in order to double the amount of customer-sited solar power installed annually in New York. It also aims to quadruple that amount by 2013 benchmarked against the amount installed during 2011.
In addition to the NY-Sun Competitive PV Program, NYSERDA has also expanded its smaller-scale solar PV programme under the NY-Sun Initiative which focuses on PV systems which generate a capacity of less than 50kW. Monthly funding under this programme has increased from US$2 million to US$3.5 million for the remainder of 2012 and will continue at US$3.1 million per month in 2013. This standard offer, non-competitive open enrollment programme provides funding for systems up to 7kW for residential sites and up to 50kW for non-residential sites.
