CHP on the rise in New York says report

Adoption of distributed energy in the US state of New York is strong and growing, a new report has found.

The Review of Distributed Energy Resources report, prepared by DNV GL for state system operator NYISO, found that New York ranks within the top five states for cumulative installed distributed energy capacity under 2 MW, and within the top 10 states for cumulative installed capacity of on-site solar photovoltaics (PV), combined heat and power (CHP) and energy storage under 2 MW.

Of the state’s distributed energy capacity, 57% is generated by small-scale CHP installations, compared to other states – such as California, New Jersey and Arizona – with high amounts of distributed energy, where solar PV installations tend to dominate. PV ranks second in New York, at 41% of the total distributed energy capacity, while 2% comes from energy storage.

The study also found room for further growth in New York’s distributed energy sector, ranking the state high in the potential for additional rooftop PV and small-scale CHP systems. For PV, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has estimated that the state could reach 881 MW in cumulative residential peak capacity by 2020, and 1174 MW for commercial capacity. The report did not offer a similar estimate for small-scale CHP growth.

New York has a number of state government initiatives in place to promote technology development and adoption of distributed energy, including the US$23 million Battery and Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Test and Commercialization Center in the city of Rochester, which opened in April, and a $17 billion competition designed to spur the development of community microgrids across the state.

Source: COSPP