Apr 4 2014
PSEG Long Island announced today the results for Long Island's second Clean Solar Initiative. The feed-in-tariff program builds upon Long Island Power Authority's first feed-in tariff for solar energy and is designed to bring an additional 100 megawatts (MW) of solar energy to Long Island.
After a four-month application period that ended on January 31, 2014, PSEG Long Island received 178 proposals from 55 separate entities, which reflected a variety of proposed bids.
Following a comprehensive analysis, the final bid price of $0.1688 per kilowatt hour (kWh) was selected to be paid to developers for solar photovoltaic systems of various sizes and types that are anticipated to be constructed across Long Island. In total, this 100 MW of solar energy is expected to be generated from 76 separate projects, which is enough to power about 13,000 homes. These solar photovoltaic systems will provide clean, renewable energy for at least the next 20 years, and will create hundreds of construction jobs.
"These auction results have yielded a price for solar energy almost 25 percent below the price being paid for the first feed-in-tariff on Long Island, for a savings of $8.1 million per year," said Michael Voltz, director of Energy Efficiency and Renewables for PSEG Long Island. "We are pleased to be working with the solar industry to continue driving down costs of solar energy on Long Island."
The decline in price reflects a number of important factors:
- Increased consumer awareness, understanding, availability and demand for solar energy
- Competition among a growing solar industry on Long Island
- Ongoing decline in costs of manufacturing and installing solar
- Federal, state and local tax incentives
In an effort to reduce load on constrained areas and help defer, reduce or eliminate the need for new generation and infrastructure, a solar price premium of 7 cents per kWh was offered for projects built in the designated areas located east of the Canal Substation in Southampton. However, less than the required 40 MW were accepted from that area. Therefore, the locational premium on South Fork projects will not be paid at this time.
The success of this feed-in-tariff program ensures continued growth and diversification of Long Island's renewable energy portfolio, providing safe and adequate long-term energy supply for Long Island. It is also significant that all 100 MW will be generated on Long Island, further advancing the development of solar energy and the growth of clean energy jobs.