Hartland solar project retained in NYPA's 'Renewables' plan

The New York Power Authority Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved an updated Renewables Strategic Plan that still includes a utility scale solar energy generation project anchored in the town of Hartland.

The Renewables Strategic Plan details NYPA’s efforts to develop, own and operate renewable generation and energy storage facilities across the state, in support of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) whose end goal is zero-emission power generation statewide by 2040.

The approved updated plan has NYPA developing, on its own or with partners, 45 generation projects and 146 distributed energy storage projects, representing a combined capacity of nearly 5.5 gigawatts (gW).

The draft update released in late July included more than 200 projects with combined capacity of 7 gW. NYPA said some projects on the draft list were dropped upon a determination they’re not viable technically or financially.

Underlying market conditions that might render a project unviable include the elimination of federal tax credits for wind and solar projects, and the results of a recent key interconnection study, the agency stated in a news release. The strategic plan is to be reassessed and updated “continually,” the agency added, meaning projects will be added as opportunities are identified, or deleted when they’re no longer considered viable.

Remaining in the plan following “due diligence” on draft listed projects is the Ridge View Solar and Storage Project, a 350 mW capacity generation facility with up to 20 mW of battery storage capacity, that NYPA would co-develop and co-own with EDF Power Solutions.

The size and scope of Ridge View Solar — a collection of solar arrays spread over 2,000 acres of leased private land — is the same now as when then-named EDF Renewables first floated it to the community in 2019, and ended up meeting staunch opposition due to its siting on farmland.

Being listed in NYPA’s Renewables Strategic Plan is not a sign that the Ridge View Solar and Storage Project is a go, according to Kevin Campbell, EDF Power Solutions director of development. It’s only a go if the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission (ORES) approves it, and before the company applies for a siting permit it must finish securing easements from certain landowners and then undertake required studies. That means its application to ORES likely won’t be filed until some time in 2027, he said.

Regarding the energy storage side of the Ridge View project, which originally fueled a good amount of the local opposition, Campbell said EDF Power Solutions is “not as married to that portion.” Its chief aim is solar energy generation, he said, and while battery storage capacity was included in the original proposal, “it doesn’t need to be part of the project going forward necessarily.”

More than 70 families and businesses have signed agreements to lease land / host a portion of Ridge View Solar, according to Campbell, but opposition to the project has posed a challenge for the company as it works to secure the easement agreements that will allow interconnection of arrays across the project area. The negotiations continue after several years of efforts, he said.

“We’re very optimistic that we’ll be able to complete that and move forward with the project,” Campbell added.

NYPA’s Renewables Strategic Plan states that in pursuit of farmland protection, authority-backed projects on certain lands used in agricultural production will be agrivoltaics projects, meaning farming and solar energy production will occur simultaneously. The classic example, offered by Campbell, is having livestock, typically sheep, graze underneath solar panels, to help feed the livestock and at the same time prevent long grass casting a shadow on solar panels, and also preserve soil health.