NY-Sun's Megawatt Block programme expands scope

The incentives under NY-Sun's Megawatt Block programme have been expanded to support solar development on landfills, brownfields and affordable housing, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) said.

Megawatt Block programme, launched in 2014, incentivises non-residential and large commercial and industrial solar projects. It has so far supported 652 MW of completed systems, with another 979 MW under development. The programme is divided into three regions across New York and the incentive steps down over time based on market activity by sector and region.

The changes to the programme, announced on Monday, encourage the development of new projects by accelerating payments and providing new financial incentive "adders," NYSERDA said. Projects in limited use areas, on brownfield or landfill sites, on rooftop or parking canopies in the Consolidated Edison service territory, and at affordable housing will now be eligible for a higher incentive, according to the announcement. In addition, the project size cap of the non-residential incentive programme is raised to 750 kW from 200 kW. The size cap for commercial and industrial projects was recently increased to 7.5 MW.

NYSERDA said the redesign of the programme is in response to a rapidly changing market and is designed to ensure the growth of the solar industry.

"Solar energy is a key component of Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading commitment to 50 percent renewable energy by 2030, and the NY-Sun initiative redesign will help ensure we keep the momentum going in New York’s fast-growing solar market," said NYSERDA president and chief executive Alicia Barton.

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