An official at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, outlined why New York may want to consider including battery storage in future requests for offshore wind project bids.
Speaking at a Sept. 27 offshore wind conference in New York City, NYSERDA Vice President of Large Scale Renewables Doreen Harris indicated battery storage might make sense to preserve grid reliability once the state achieves its 9,000 MW offshore wind goal.
"Let's think into the future," she said. "If 30% of our load is served with offshore wind, what will we need to balance that generation? It's certainly on our mind."
Harris noted the authority is required to report back to the New York Public Service Commission this year on the efficacy and lessons learned from NYSERDA's offshore wind solicitation and its subsequent selection of two projects in July.
Three of Ørsted's Block Island Wind Farm turbines stand in the water off Block Island, R.I. |
NYSERDA selected the 880-MW Sunrise Wind project, a joint venture between Ørsted A/S and Eversource Energy, and Equinor ASA's proposed 816-MW Empire Wind project. But New York will need to issue more RFPs to achieve the state's ambitious offshore wind target.
Harris did not say whether NYSERDA will recommend to the utility commission to include storage in future offshore wind RFPs, but she noted the topic is on her mind as the authority drafts the report.
The report will include things like how the solicitation went, "what observations might we have that might inform subsequent processes and the like," Harris said. "And in drafting that ... [battery storage] is certainly a topic that is on my mind as being something I'd like to really think about in the context of these too."
Harris in an interview on the sidelines of the event clarified her position on battery storage. "I think it certainly should be considered for offshore" wind, she said.
While Harris said the last request for proposals did not specifically encourage pairing offshore wind with storage, she pointed out that the state already provides incentives for developers to consider combining storage with onshore wind projects.
The idea of pairing offshore wind with batteries is not new, particularly for European developers. Some of Europe's wind powerhouses have turned to solar and storage technologies in an effort to diversify their revenue streams and capitalize on changing energy markets.

