The New York Power Authority has stepped up its renewable energy development efforts, offering a draft revision of its strategic plan that would more than double proposals to 6.8 GW.

The move is seen as timely, given the new hurdles to renewable energy being erected by the federal government since NYPA started down this path.

NYPA in 2023 gained new authority to develop renewable energy alone or in partnership with the private sector. A year later, it offered an initial tranche of 40 proposals totaling 3.5 GW, with the caveat that, as with most proposed renewables, there likely would be a significant attrition rate.

The final plan adopted in January contained 37 proposals rated at 3 GW, three of which have since been withdrawn from consideration because they were on an incompatible timetable.

On July 29, NYPA announced a second tranche of proposals totaling 3.8 GW.

These range from large wind and solar farms to a half-gigawatt compressed air storage cavern to dozens of storage facilities of a few megawatts each in New York City, where energy resources are most tightly stretched.

In a news release, NYPA President Justin Driscoll cited New York’s strong vision for a clean energy future but also acknowledged the escalating challenges facing it.

“There has never been a more critical time for NYPA to move expeditiously as we contend with expiring federal tax credits and associated increased competition for equipment and installers,” he said. “NYPA is committed to building a diverse portfolio of clean energy projects.”

NYPA has a long history of energy development, notably the major hydroelectric facilities that provide nearly half of the state’s emissions-free electricity.

But public power advocates had long sought a larger role for NYPA, in hopes that as a state entity it could accomplish what the private sector was failing to do: bring large amounts of new renewables online. In 2023, they succeeded in their lobbying efforts for the Build Public Renewables Act.

But in 2024, they were sorely disappointed that NYPA came out of the gate with a 3.5-GW plan rather than the bold 15-GW vision they had hoped for. NYPA said it wanted to move prudently and preserve the strong bond rating that would help it finance these efforts.

Public Power NY cheered the new gigawatts implied in the July 29 update of the strategic plan and especially welcomed the attention to the New York City area.

They also raised their goal to more than 15 GW, saying in a news release:

“New Yorkers stood up in record numbers to demand New York lead the way on building publicly owned, union-built renewable energy, and we’re winning. The rapid addition of 4 more GW of public renewables shows NYPA can build even more than the 15 GW necessary for us to meet the state’s climate goals, including 5 GW downstate.”

No Price Tag for Compressed Air Project

NYPA is facing a potentially busy few years. Along with the renewables mandate, Gov. Kathy Hochul in June directed it to lead development of at least 1 GW of advanced nuclear generation.

NYPA has attracted private sector interest in its renewables role. To date, 94 developers and investors have been pre-qualified to collaborate on generation projects, and the window for potential partners remains open through Sept. 30.

This latest tranche of renewables consists of three wind farms, 17 solar arrays and 156 energy storage systems.

NYPA and Orenda would co-develop 140 of the energy storage facilities. Almost all would be in New York City’s four outer boroughs, with the rest in the next county north. Some already have interconnection agreements.

Along with the standard battery energy storage systems, photovoltaic panels and wind towers proposed to be erected by the dozens or millions, there is one outlier among the projects: Hydrostor and NYPA would team up on a 500-MW compressed air storage facility in the northern town of Croghan and aim to bring it online in late 2031.

The draft revision of the strategic plan offers no price tag on the venture and gives no indication what level of risk would be attached to such a venture.

However, Hydrostor’s 500-MW/4,000-MWh Willow Rock compressed air energy storage proposal in California gives some hint about the price range: It received a $1.76 billion federal loan guarantee in the last days of the Biden administration.

One thing that will not be on the final renewables list is a nuclear reactor, even though NYPA is charged with seeing one built. Nuclear is not classified as a renewable energy technology.

Every proposal that does make it into the plan still must clear the full due diligence process, NYPA writes:

“The power authority is committed to building as much renewable energy as we prudently can. The inclusion of a project within this updated strategic plan, however, does not guarantee that NYPA will proceed with that project.”