New York City Sets Ambitious Citywide Energy Storage Target
New York City is aiming to have 100 MWh of energy storage by 2020 under an unprecedented target set by Mayor Bill de Blasio on September 23.
The city’s first-ever energy storage deployment target will help reduce reliance on the grid by making variable sources of energy production, such as solar panels, usable for more of the day, Blasio said as he announced the target to celebrate Climate Week. “Energy storage also helps increase the City’s resiliency by providing backup energy when the grid is offline.”
The mayor on September 23 also called on the Department of Buildings to issue permits for more than 3,000 solar panel installations this year alone, bringing the citywide total to more than 8,000 installations in 2016.
“This solar growth puts the City on track to meet its OneNYC goals of installing 100 [MW] of solar power on public buildings and spurring the installation of 250 MW on private buildings by 2025,” his office said in a statement last week.
The measure is the nation’s first citywide target for energy storage.
California currently has an energy storage mandate that requires utilities to get 1.3 GW of energy storage by 2020. Oregon is requiring its utilities—Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp—to submit proposals by January 1, 2017, to procure storage systems of 5 MWh or higher. Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, meanwhile requires new grid-connected solar and wind power projects to add 30% of the installation’s rated capacity in storage to aid frequency control.
This August, Massachusetts’ governor signed into law an omnibus energy bill that sets down an energy storage mandate. The law calls on the state’s Department of Energy Resources to determine by the end of this year whether or not it is appropriate to set targets for power companies to procure, by January 1, 2020, “viable and cost-effective energy storage systems.” If it chooses to set targets, the state expects to adopt the procurement targets by July 1, 2017, and reevaluate them every three years.
—Sonal Patel, associate editor (@POWERmagazine, @sonalcpatel)