Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced the launch of New York’s first Bulk Energy Storage Request for Proposals (RFP), intended to procure one gigawatt (GW) of bulk energy storage as part of New York’s 6 GW Energy Storage Roadmap.

Adding bulk energy storage to New York’s grid will lower costs, optimize the generation and transmission of power, enhance energy grid infrastructure, and ensure the reliability and resilience of the state’s electricity system.

“Today’s action is another example of New York’s ongoing commitment to strengthening our grid, ensuring the state continues to have a more affordable and reliable electricity system now and well into the future,” Hochul said. “Safe and strategic deployment of energy storage will help drive economic development and reduce costs for New Yorkers.”

Administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), through its Bulk Energy Storage Program, this competitive solicitation seeks to advance a range of energy storage technologies and timely progress toward procuring three GW of bulk energy storage over the three solicitations. Any NYSERDA-supported energy storage projects are contractually required to meet the new storage safety codes adopted last week into Uniform Code by the State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council, which reflect the work and recommendations from the New York State Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group (FSWG). While the newly adopted code will not take effect until Jan. 1, NYSERDA has already integrated these recommendations into its residential, retail, and bulk energy storage programs to ensure facilities are sited safely, that first responders have the necessary training, and that all sites have comprehensive emergency response plans.

State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO Doreen M. Harris said, “NYSERDA’s Bulk Energy Storage Program provides an opportunity to more than double the current amount of energy storage that has been deployed, contracted, and awarded statewide. This solicitation will further advance New York’s focus on grid reliability, peak reduction and affordability while meeting the demand for more storage to be safely installed across our state.”

NYSERDA’s Bulk Energy Storage Program employs a novel Index Storage Credit (ISC) incentive, as established in the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) Order, modeled in part after the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) and Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Credit (OREC) utilized in other NYSERDA programs. The ISC is a market-based mechanism that gives project owners greater revenue certainty while incentivizing them to participate in wholesale energy and capacity markets. ISCs will be created based on a project’s operational availability, and will represent one megawatt hour of energy storage capacity that is operational and available to discharge on a given day; projects will be credited and compensated based on the operational availability they achieve in each month over the course of the 15-25-year contracts.

Entities interested in responding to this solicitation must first complete “Step One,” which is an initial qualifying step for proposers to demonstrate program eligibility. Step One Eligibility Applications are due to NYSERDA by 3 p.m. on Sept. 4. Once proposals are deemed eligible by NYSERDA, proposers will be invited to submit a “Step Two” bid proposal for project evaluation.

NYSERDA supports safety measures for all projects and, as a result, will not pay for ISCs until the awarded and contracted projects are permitted, installed and operating and have passed their peer review process and quality assurance inspection – both key milestones to ensure that all projects are designed and constructed with New York’s best-in-class safety standards. In addition, all project proposers must include a comprehensive safety and security plan detailing how they will adhere to the Bulk Energy Storage Program Manual requirements.