RENSSELAER, N.Y. — The results of NYISO’s 2024 transitional cluster deliverability study show that more than $1.1 billion of high-voltage transmission upgrades would be required to accommodate 48 projects in the batch of generation projects.
Hundreds of millions of dollars more would be needed to upgrade local transmission across the state’s capacity zones, according to a report presented at a special Operations Committee meeting March 31.
Whether developers will be on the hook for the upgrades is up in the air. NYISO plans to file a proposal with FERC to revise the deliverability study methodology.
This is the first round of the ISO’s ongoing move toward batched interconnection studies. Most of the projects in the batch are solar, storage, and onshore and offshore wind. Stakeholders approved the preliminary results unanimously.
The deliverability test checks to see whether the New York transmission system can accommodate the additional capacity. If necessary, the ISO will determine the cost of system upgrades to make delivery of the new resources’ capacity possible. These upgrades are broken down into “highway,” or high-voltage transmission facilities, and “byways,” lower-voltage localized transmission facilities. The cost of a highway upgrade is divided between transmission owners and developers. Byway upgrades are paid for by developers.
The test determined that projects located in the north and west of the state would all need highway upgrades to deliver their power through the Volney East and Total East interfaces. These upgrades would cost an estimated $1.107 billion, with roughly $88 million going to Volney East and the rest going to Total East.
Twenty-four projects spread across the Lower Hudson Valley, upstate, western and northern New York were determined to need byway upgrades. NYISO estimates these would cost $45 million and would cover the rebuilds of nine facilities.
Six of the 12 projects located in New York City would require byway upgrades across two local transmission facilities. NYISO estimates these upgrades would cost $619 million, of which $618 million would go to a new phased array relay control line from Fresh Kills on Staten Island to Rockaway Beach, Queens. Two new shunt reactors on Fresh Kills would also be required.
Six of the 13 projects on Long Island would require byway upgrades to be deliverable. These would be spread across three transmission facilities and cost roughly $419 million. The most expensive upgrade would be a new phased array relay between Brookhaven and Smithfield, with additional transmission upgrades in Holbrook, costing more than $334 million.
Of the more than 200 projects that initially joined the 2024 transitional cluster study, only 92 remain, and 89 are requesting energy resource interconnection service and capacity resource interconnection service (CRIS). The remaining three projects only requested CRIS.
Stakeholders questioned some of the parameters of the study, asking whether the ISO was testing for an extreme load case that “might never happen.” Zach Smith, vice president of system and resource planning for NYISO, said those requirements likely would be be changed before the end of the cluster study.
“Assuming the board approves, we’ll be filing with FERC for that revised methodology,” Smith said. He explained the changes would be in effect before the cluster study concludes, assuming FERC responds within its required 60-day window. “We have to follow the current tariff for now, and that’s the purpose of today’s presentation.”
Wenjin Yan, manager of generation integration, explained there would not be an additional draft of the deliverability study forthcoming because under the new methodology many of the upgrades were unnecessary. Those that remained “completely overlapped” with upgrades identified in this study.
Data in the appendix of NYISO’s presentation demonstrated that the new deliverability study methodology would cut dramatically the number of upgrades needed. Specific cost estimates were not provided, but the results showed far fewer violations on Central East and Volney East.
