EDP Renewables NA Distributed Generation, the distributed generation business unit of EDP Renewables, has been awarded the task to develop the company’s 13th community solar project in New York State in 2021. The project totals upto 54 MW in capacity. Community solar installations are traditionally in the 1-5 MW range, with some outliers pushing the boundary at 20 MW. The company has not yet shared the project’s specific location, what hardware will be used in the installation, nor any details on potential construction partners.
In the last two years, New York has made unprecedented community solar capacity additions. According to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the state added 549 MW of community solar capacity in 2020, leading the nation. More than 90 per cent of the state’s 2.7 GW pipeline of projects under development that have been awarded NY-Sun incentives, and are expected to come online in the next two years, are community solar, comprising more than 800 projects.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the next five years will see the US community solar market add more than 4 GW of total capacity.
EDP Renewables NA Distributed Generation currently owns 72 MW of community solar assets either operating, under construction, or in the development phase across the Northeast and Midwest. There is an additional near-term pipeline of 42 MW expected to be operational within the next 12 months.
