PSEG Long Island, on behalf of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), recently issued a request for proposals (RFP) for bulk energy storage resources that will be interconnected to the Long Island electric grid.
The RFP, which was issued on April 30, notes that New York State, through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) enacted in 2019, has set a target that 70% of the state’s electricity be produced from renewable resources by 2030 with the additional expressed goal of achieving a 100% carbon-free grid by 2040.
Included in the CLCPA targets is a 3,000-megawatt (MW) 2030 statewide energy storage goal. This goal was preceded by a December 2018 New York Public Service Commission (PSC) order establishing a 1,500-MW target for 2025.
According to the RFP, LIPA intends to meet its share of these goals through existing energy storage projects under contracts with LIPA, new projects obtained through the RFP, distribution-level storage projects proposed in PSEG Long Island’s “Utility 2.0” Long Range Plan, and behind-the-meter programs established in LIPA’s tariff for electric service.
The RFP has a goal to obtain 175 MW of new bulk energy storage projects to help meet LIPA’s share of New York State’s 2025 storage goal, though LIPA may select more or less than this goal depending on the cost-effectiveness of the proposals.
“Among other things, cost-effectiveness will be determined by the value of products and services that can be obtained from the projects, including capacity, energy, and ancillary services in the NYISO wholesale markets, ability to compensate for the intermittency of renewable resources, ability to defer the need for transmission system reinforcements, and any other bulk power products or services offered in each proposal,” the RFP said.
The RFP is open to all energy storage technologies provided they are commercially viable, as further explained in the RFP, and meet the technical criteria set forth in an appendix to the RFP.
The energy storage must be electrically interconnected within the LIPA electrical grid service territory and separately metered from any other load or generation at the site. The minimum size project at a single location is 20.1 MW.
The RFP offers two contract model options, one of which must be chosen by a respondent for its proposal. One is a build-own-transfer contract model, while the other is a build-own-operate-transfer contract model. Additional details on the contract model options are included in the RFP.
Under the RFP’s schedule, proposals are due by July 30, 2021.
The RFP is available here.
The American Public Power Association offers a Public Power Energy Storage Tracker for association members that summarizes energy storage projects undertaken by members that are currently online.
