The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has awarded contracts to 21 clean energy projects totaling nearly 1.7 gigawatts of generating capacity, the agency announced on Sept. 23, 2026. The selection includes both the state's first bulk energy storage procurement and its 2025 Tier 1 Renewable Energy Standard solicitation. The contracted facilities are expected to come online by the close of 2030, according to the announcement.
The bulk energy storage awards went to eight lithium battery projects with a combined capacity of 950 megawatts, featuring discharge durations ranging from four to eight hours. The renewable energy contracts cover 13 large-scale facilities totaling 719 MW of capacity, split among solar, wind, and hydroelectric generation. Individual storage projects vary from a 94-MW, four-hour facility in Ulster County developed by Key Capture Energy to an 140-MW, eight-hour installation in Chautauqua County proposed by Grid Connected Infrastructure LLC and Neoen US. Suffolk County will host another 150-MW facility, also developed by Key Capture Energy. The projects are projected to create 1,000 jobs and attract over $3.7 billion in private capital, NYSERDA said.
The newly contracted storage capacity will more than double the utility-scale energy storage that's been awarded, contracted, and installed statewide to date, NYSERDA stated, representing "meaningful progress toward 6 gigawatts by 2030." NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris said the large-scale projects "not only further the growth of clean energy and more than double the utility-scale energy storage that exists currently statewide – but they contribute to New York's comprehensive, all of the above energy strategy." Amisha Rai, senior vice president of advocacy at Advanced Energy United, noted that bringing new renewable energy and storage projects online "means more homegrown power, more flexibility for the grid, and more investment in communities across the state."
New York has fallen behind its clean energy goals and earlier this year adjusted the greenhouse gas reduction targets set in its Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, though officials say procurement goals remain unchanged. The state's 70% renewable energy target for 2030, established when the CLCPA passed in 2019, still stands. New York doubled its storage target in 2022, setting the 6 GW by 2030 benchmark. NYSERDA plans to release a second annual bulk energy storage request for proposals before year's end and intends to select 3 GW of energy storage procurement across its first three solicitations. Payments to contracted projects won't begin until facilities become operational, ensuring deliverables before funds flow.