Thanks in part to ARRA funding, solar energy capacity in New York City has increased 800 percent since 2007, with many more solar installations in the “pipeline.” This increase parallels the quadrupling of solar installation companies now doing business in NYC, demonstrating the economic benefits of enabling the solar market in this city of a million rooftops.
Six years ago, NYC had just one megawatt of installed solar power, and the local solar market faced extensive technical, administrative and policy barriers. A collaborative partnership, led by the City University of New York (CUNY), was formed that includes the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Together they are implementing a plan to systematically remove those barriers in order to support large-scale solar energy market growth. The partners have secured three consecutive U.S. Department of Energy grants, including an ARRA grant, that led to the development of five NYC Solar Empowerment Zones, NYC Solar Ombudsman, and the world’s largest LiDAR based map: the NYC Solar Map. The map utilizes 15 billion points of data to estimate the solar energy potential for every building in NYC. Since its launch in June of 2011, the map has received over 150,000 hits, serving as an interactive tool for New Yorkers by educating them about the costs, benefits, and payback periods of investing in solar installations for their properties.
City University of New York, NYC Economic Development Corporation and Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Sustainability, Solar Market Transformation
Source: nycarra
Today NYC Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway, NYCDEP Commissioner Carter Strickland and NYCEDC President Seth Pinsky announced the release of a Request for Proposals to design, construct, install and operate solar and wind power facilities at Fresh Kills on Staten Island. Approximately 75 acres of land are available for lease and have the potential to be developed into large-scale facilities that could generate up to 20 megawatts of renewable energy—enough to power roughly 6,000 homes. The project would more than double the City’s current renewable energy capacity. Fostering the market for renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions are two initiatives of PlaNYC, Mayor Bloomberg’s sustainability blueprint for New York City.
Deputy Mayor Holloway:
“New York City needs energy to keep it running, and we want that power to be reliable, clean, and affordable. This RFP does all of those things and, if successful, will more than double the renewable energy capacity in the City. Renewable energy is the most sustainable kind, and under Mayor Bloomberg’s leadership we’re maximizing the use of City assets to develop as much capacity as possible.”
Fresh Kills spans 2,200 acres on the western shore of Staten Island and served as the City’s principal solid waste landfill until 2001. In 2006, the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation began work to develop Freshkills Park, which will incorporate the solar and wind power installations outlined in the Request for Proposals.
For more details, view the Request for Proposals. Responses are due on a rolling basis to be reviewed at each submission deadline: May 24, 2012, August 15, 2012, November 15, 2012, and a final submission date of February 15, 2013.
Learn more about NYCEDC projects on Staten Island and to boost the green economy.
