The farm is being put in by CS Energy with financing from Goldman Sachs Renewable Power Division. It represents CS’ first upstate venture.
Utility executives including National Grid President Rudolph Wynter noted that the state’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protect Act, which mandates a big boost in renewable power, means that plenty more such projects are coming.
“We have a stable policy roadmap,” said Wynter. National Grid will deliver the electricity generated here through its network of power lines.
NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris later added that the spot was ideal, with flat, treeless terrain that lends itself to large scale construction of solar panels.
“They have all of the qualities that make for a great solar project,” she said.
NYSERDA and the Cuomo Administration also noted that as of Thursday, which was the 51st Anniversary of Earth Day, there were 20 large-scale renewable energy infrastructure projects under construction across the state this year.
Together, these projects are expected to generate enough renewable energy to power more than 320,000 New York homes and reduce carbon emissions by nearly one million metric tons annually, equivalent to taking more than 215,000 cars off the road every year.
Additionally NYSERDA on Thursday issued its fifth annual solicitation for new projects, calling for approximately 4.5 million megawatt-hours of renewable electricity per year, which would power nearly 600,000 homes.
The latest call for proposals includes any land-based project known as Tier 1, or a renewable power project started after January 1, 2015, and commencing commercial operation by November 30, 2023, with the option to extend to November 30, 2026.
“There’s an opportunity for us to redefine upstate New York as an energy capital and leader for the rest of the nation,” remarked Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who attended the gathering here.
The Branscomb project has been several years in the making and is expected to start generating power by the end of the summer.
Harris added that this project was approved by local municipal and county officials. Newer large projects, including many proposed in the last year or so, will be approved by a special state siting board, designed to expedite the process. That process was streamlined in state law last year.