New York State approved a siting application for renewable energy developer Hecate Energy‘s 500-MW Cider Solar Farm. The ruling from the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) makes Cider Solar Farm the largest solar project ever permitted in the state.
“This permit marks a major milestone, not only for Hecate Energy, but in making meaningful progress toward New York State’s ambitious climate goals,” said Harrison Luna, Hecate Energy’s project developer for the Cider Solar Farm. “We are appreciative of the support and coordination for the Cider Solar Project that we received from civic leadership of the Oakfield and Elba town governments. Hecate Energy experienced a positive collaborative interaction with ORES during the permitting process, which was key in advancing this project.”
Cider Solar Farm will be built on nearly 3,000 acres across Elba and Oakfield. Hecate Energy anticipates starting construction on the solar farm by 2023. Construction is expected to create positions for 495 full-time employees. When complete, the project will be interconnected to the New York State electricity grid through the Dysinger-New Rochester 345-kV transmission line.
“Cider Solar Farm represents a significant $500 million private infrastructure investment in Western New York — not only will this project create hundreds of local jobs, but it will also directly fund local governments, schools and community services like the fire department and ambulance squad,” said Luna.
The solar farm will produce 920,000 MWh of renewable electricity annually — enough to power over 120,000 average New York households. Cider Solar is the first permit issued by ORES issued by the new state office; all previous ORES-permitted projects initially filed their permit applications under the older Article 10 siting process.
News item from Hecate Energy
Back just four years ago, very large solar PV farms in in the UAE were being constructed for right at $1/watt installed when the solar PV farm was at 1GWp. Now this site is going in at 500MWp for $1/watt, even with tariffs. The price of solar PV is still inching down even with all the constrictions that have reared their ugly heads in the past few years.