New York Power Authority Seeks Developers for Warren County Clean Energy Projects
Proposals Sought to Build Solar Arrays on City Landfills, City’s Arena and Municipal Building
Projects to Support New York State’s Goal of Generating 100% of New York’s Electricity Using Clean Energy Resources by 2040 and Reducing Greenhouse Gases 40 Percent by 2030
WHITE PLAINS—The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is seeking developers to implement solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays and/or battery energy storage systems at four sites in Warren County. The solicitation, which seeks proposals by Nov. 9, is asking for competitively priced proposals to design and construct 4.1 megawatts (MW) of distributed solar PV at two adjacent landfills in the Town of Queensbury, the Cool Insuring Arena and a Department of Public Works building in Glens Falls that will provide additional clean energy options and value to the municipality.
“The New York Power Authority is pleased to support the development of innovative clean energy projects in Warren County, which will provide economic and environmental benefits to the City of Glens Falls and the surrounding community,” said Justin E. Driscoll, New York Power Authority’s president and CEO. “Working with municipalities to implement new energy solutions and lower greenhouse-gas emissions helps us achieve our renewable resource targets locally and collectively as a state to advance our clean energy and sustainability goals.”
The projects are aimed to help support Governor Kathy Hochul’s clean energy initiative to reduce greenhouse gases 40% by 2030 and produce 70% of New York’s electricity using clean energy resources by 2030.
Located on the southeastern edge of the Adirondack Park, the City of Glens Falls has been ambitiously pursuing efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in keeping with the Governor’s carbon-reduction goals. The City has already been designated a Clean Energy Community by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and achieved Bronze Certification from the Department of Conservation’s Climate Smart Community program. Through this RFP, the City hopes to deploy clean energy technologies that support both its sustainability and economic development goals.
“As a gateway community to the Adirondack region, the City of Glens Falls takes very seriously its responsibility to be an environmentally friendly community,” said Jeffrey Flagg, Glens Falls’ director of economic development. ”One of the best ways that the city can lead by example is by pursuing solar-generation projects where possible. Landfills in particular are one of the best ways to convert otherwise unusable land into productive assets.”
The Request for Proposals (RFP) identifies the following locations and estimated system sizes:
- Glens Falls municipal landfill, 64 Luzerne Road, Queensbury – 1.5 MW ground mount project sited on a capped landfill.
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation-owned landfill, 51 Luzerne Road, Queensbury – 2.1 MW ground mount project sited on a capped landfill.
- Cool Insuring Arena,1 Civic Center Plaza, Glens Falls – 280 kW DC rooftop project.
- Glens Falls Department of Public Works, 230 Dix Ave. – 123 kW DC rooftop project.
NYPA notes that the landfill sites in particular are good candidates for solar development as they are generally maintained, unobstructed land that has limited potential for other types of development.
Submissions are strongly encouraged to incorporate battery energy storage systems (BESS) where possible. The City and the Power Authority may add sites to the RFP over the course of the project.
In addition to Solar PV and BESS, the City is open to receiving proposals for other clean energy technologies, such as wind energy systems and innovative site management practices, such as livestock grazing on solar sites, that will enhance the environmental and economic viability of the project.
The selected proposer will sell to the City, through a 20- or 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), all of the electricity and attributes generated by the systems from the sites at a competitive price that will deliver cost savings to the City.
The Power Authority is working with numerous communities to find clean energy solutions to reduce costs, increase resiliency and lower greenhouse gas emissions. NYPA’s mission is to lead the transition to a carbon-free, economically vibrant New York State through customer partnerships, innovative energy solutions, and the responsible supply of affordable, clean, and reliable electricity.
To review the RFP, access NYPA’s Procurement site here.
New York State’s Nation-Leading Climate Plan
New York State’s nation-leading climate agenda is the most aggressive climate and clean energy initiative in the nation, calling for an orderly and just transition to clean energy that creates jobs and continues fostering a green economy as New York State recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Enshrined into law through the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, New York is on a path to achieve its mandated goal of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and to reach economy wide carbon neutrality. It builds on New York’s unprecedented investments to ramp-up clean energy including over $35 billion in 120 large-scale renewable and transmission projects across the state, $6.8 billion to reduce buildings emissions, $1.8 billion to scale up solar, more than $1 billion for clean transportation initiatives, and over $1.6 billion in NY Green Bank commitments. Combined, these investments are supporting more than 165,000 jobs in New York’s clean energy sector in 2021, a 2,100 percent growth in the distributed solar sector since 2011 and a commitment to develop 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2035. Under the Climate Act, New York will build on this progress and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, while ensuring that at least 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of the benefits of clean energy investments are directed to disadvantaged communities, and advance progress towards the state’s 2025 energy efficiency target of reducing on-site energy consumption by 185 trillion BTUs of end-use energy savings.
About NYPA
NYPA is the largest state public power organization in the nation, operating 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. More than 80 percent of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower. NYPA finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. For more information visit www.nypa.gov and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and LinkedIn.
