(Photo Credit: George Bremer, Flickr Creative Commons)[/caption]
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made $5 million available for electric grid modernization projects that help the state integrate renewable energy resources and also improve resiliency. The move is part of Cuomo’s Green New Deal to reach 70% renewable energy by 2030.
Funding for the projects comes from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)’s Smart Grid and Distributed Energy Resource Integration Program for entrepreneurs, renewable energy companies, and researchers that have solutions for connecting and integrating renewable resources faster and more effectively.
“This funding supports product development, demonstration and commercialization of innovative technologies that lower costs and increase speed for connected renewable generation to the electric grid,” according to NYSERDA. “Proposals should focus on low cost monitoring and control, preventing back-feed from storage systems, and smart inverter functions.”
The grid modernization program comes on the heels of Cuomo’s announcement in early April that he would be making as much as $30 million available for integrating renewable energy resources onto New York’s electric grid.
“We want to ensure that our power system is smarter and more resilient so we are prepared when extreme weather strikes,” Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul said this week.
Cuomo’s multibillion-dollar Green New Deal sets an aggressive course for the state to run on 100% renewable carbon-free energy by 2040. The governor’s office noted that New York has already invested $2.9 billion in 46 large-scale renewable projects across the state.
At the same time renewable energy targets have been increased: the offshore wind target quadrupled to 9,000 megawatts by 2035, distributed solar deployment doubled to 6,000 megawatts by 2025, and the energy storage deployment target is set for 3,000 megawatts by 2030.
