New York Gov. Cuomo plans 19 MW microgrid in the state capital

Dive Brief:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has announced plans to build a microgrid to serve a government office complex in the state’s capital.
The microgrid will supply all the heating and cooling needs and 90% of the power for the 90-acre Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza in Albany.
The microgrid will feature two 8-MW gas-fired turbines that will also be able to burn oil. The project is designed to withstand extreme weather and serve as an emergency shelter for Albany residents.

Dive Insight:

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is providing funding that aims to work in conjunction with Gov. Cuomo’s Reinventing the Energy Vision (REV) initiative.

Through the NY Prize program, NYSERDA in March said it is providing $11 million in funding for microgrids in the state under the state’s NY Prize competition.

NYSERDA is separately backing a new microgrid that would be very close to home for the governor. The new Albany Plaza project in the state capital is being supported by $2.5 million in funding from NYSERDA.

Responses to a Request for Proposals issued by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) are being reviewed and will be used to establish the cost of the Albany microgrid. Awards are expected to be announced in the fall.

NYPA is partnering on the project with the New York State Office of General Services (OGS). NYPA will oversee the design and construction process, which is expected to begin in late 2017 and completed by the end of 2019.

OGS will finance the project, which is expected to save $25 million by avoiding replacement costs of the current aging emergency power system.

The power generation equipment for the microgrid project will be in a dormant waste-recovery steam plant that was decommissioned in 1994 and is next to a working steam plant. The new cogeneration plant is expected to save the state more than $2.7 million in annual energy costs.

The Albany Plaza microgrid could also be expanded into a larger community-based system for downtown Albany under NYSERDA’s NY Prize Competition.

"By utilizing the vacant Albany steam plant, this project will bolster our efforts to cut energy costs and harden our vital facilities to withstand what Mother Nature throws our way," Cuomo said in a statement.