Archive for November, 2013

MA DOER Posts SREC-I Project Extension Guidelines

Posted November 15th, 2013 by SRECTrade.

On November 14, 2013, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) posted the official, final project eligibility extension guidelines for SREC-I (current SREC program) qualified projects >100 kW in size.*

The official extension guidelines can be found here and the DOER’s email announcing the guidelines can be found here.  Without an extension, the deadline for installing SREC-I eligible projects >100 kW is December 31, 2013. Projects are eligible for an extension if they can prove they have incurred 50% of the cost to construct by 12/31/2013. Extension forms must be filed with the DOER no later than January 13, 2014.

*Projects less than or equal to 100 kW DC in capacity do not need to file for an extension. These projects are eligible for SREC-I provided that they can prove interconnection and have submitted complete program Statement of Qualification Applications (SQA) by the day before the effective date of the start of the SREC-II program. It is expected that the effective date of SREC-II will likely occur sometime on or before the end of Q1 2014.

 

Massachusetts Webinar Recording – Presented by SRECTrade and Mike Judge of DOER

Posted November 14th, 2013 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade and Mike Judge of the DOER present the current status of the Massachusetts SREC-I program.  Additionally the webinar covers the regulatory process that the SREC-II program proposal must udergo before the SREC-II program may start. The webinar recording can be watched by clicking the image below.

November 2013 MA SREC webinar

 

SRECTrade Markets Report: October 2013

Posted November 12th, 2013 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade SREC Markets Report: October 2013

The following post is a monthly update outlining the megawatts of solar capacity certified to create SRECs in the Solar REC markets that SRECTrade serves. All PJM data is based on the information available in PJM GATS as of the date noted. All MA data is based on the information provided by the DOER as of the date noted. This analysis does not include projects that are not yet registered and certified with the entities noted herein.

A PDF copy of this table can be found here.

Capacity_October2013

Overview of PJM Eligible Systems

As of November 6, 2013 there were 38,912 solar PV and 790 solar thermal systems (a 1.8% month-over-month increase) registered and eligible to create SRECs in the PJM Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS). Of these, 256 (0.64%) have a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or greater, but account for 42.62% of the overall capacity registered. Twenty-seven of these projects have a nameplate capacity of 5 MW or greater (unchanged from the last several months). New Jersey continues to host most of the larger scale facilities, claiming home to 17 of the 27 facilities, that are equal to or greater than 5 MW. Also unchanged for several months, the three largest projects are a 29.1 MW FirstSolar project in MD, a 25.1 MW PSE&G utility pole mount project located in NJ, and the 16.1 MW Mount St. Mary’s project in MD.

NJ Office of Clean Energy Estimated Installed Capacity Through 10/31/13: On November 7, 2013, the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy (OCE) announced total installed solar capacity reached 1,155.4 MW; an increase of approximately 13.2 MW over the total capacity reported at the end of September.

Massachusetts DOER Qualified Projects

As of October 16, 2013, there were 8,668 MA DOER qualified solar projects; 8,388 operational and 280 not operational. Total qualified capacity is 691.8 MW (and increase of 3.7 MW from the last report); 293.5 MW of which is operational and 398.3 MW is not operational under the current SREC-I program.

Not operational, qualified projects over 100 kW in size must demonstrate at least 50% completion by 12/31/2013 in order to remain qualified. Note, these totals should adjust as projects less than 100 kW in capacity become qualified throughout the year. Projects less than 100 kW must be interconnected by the effective date of the SREC-II program or June 30, 2014, whichever is earlier. Whereas projects greater 100 kW in capacity must have submitted application paperwork and met certain requirements by July 5, 2013. For more information refer to our blog posts covering the current SREC program.

How to Interpret This Table

The tables above demonstrate the capacity breakout by state. Note, that for all PJM GATS registered projects, each state includes all projects certified to sell into that state. State RPS programs that allow for systems sited in other states to participate have been broken up by systems sited in-state and out-of-state. Additional detail has been provided to demonstrate the total capacity of systems only certified for one specific state market versus being certified for multiple state markets. For example, PA includes projects only certified to sell into the PA SREC market, broken out by in-state and out-of-state systems, as well as projects that are also certified to sell into PA and Other State markets broken out by in state and out of state systems (i.e. OH, DC, MD, DE, NJ). PA Out-of-State includes systems sited in states with their own state SREC market (i.e. DE) as well as systems sited in states that have no SREC market (i.e. VA). Also, it is important to note that the Current Capacity represents the total megawatts eligible to produce and sell SRECs as of the noted date, while the Estimated Required Capacity – Current and Next Reporting Year represents the estimated number of MW that need to be online on average throughout the reporting period to meet the RPS requirement within each state with only that particular compliance period vintage. For example, New Jersey needed approximately 496.7 MW online for the entire 2013 reporting year to meet the RPS requirement with 2013 vintage SRECs only. SRECs still available from prior eligible periods can also impact the Solar RPS requirements. Additionally, the data presented above does not include projects that are in the pipeline or currently going through the registration process in each state program. This data represents specifically the projects that have been approved for the corresponding state SREC markets as of the dates noted.

Note: SREC requirements for markets without fixed SREC targets have been forecast based on EIA Report “Retail Sales of Electricity by State by Provider” updated 10/1/12. Projected SRECs required utilizes the most recent EIA electricity data applying an average 1.5% growth rate per forecast year. The state’s RPS Solar requirement is then multiplied by forecast total electricity sales to arrive at projected SRECs required. Projected capacity required is based on a factor of 1,200 MWh in PJM states and 1,130 MWh in MA, generated per MW of installed capacity per year.

 

Massachusetts SREC-I and SREC-II program updates

Posted November 5th, 2013 by SRECTrade.

The eagerly awaited MA  SREC-II program promises to keep the MA solar industry in over-drive, but when will it start and what happens between now and then? We’ve previously noted in our blog and bulletin emails sent to installers that moving forward SREC-I is separated into two applicant categories. There is still uncertainty about the SREC-II program design and timeline for its implementation, but we know that it may be implemented as early as Q1 2014.

SREC-I Projects 100 kW and Smaller

Projects 100 kW and smaller are eligible for the SREC-I program provided that they are installed and officially interconnected (permission to operate in hand) before the effective date of SREC-II. Our current understanding is that the effective date of SREC-II will likely be sometime after January 2014.

SREC-I Projects Larger than 100 kW

Projects eligible for SREC-I that are not fully interconnected by 12/31/13 must apply for an eligibility extension. Projects are eligible for extensions if they have spent at least 50% of the estimated project construction cost by 12/31/13.

SREC – I extension documents can be found here. Projects registered with SRECTrade should return these documents to us no later than Friday, 12/13/13 to guarantee that SRECTrade can send them to the DOER and confirm their acceptance.

SREC-II Is Still Not Official

We expect the DOER to formally propose the SREC-II program in early November 2013. Once this is done the proposal must undergo several formal review steps including a public comment period and legislative review period. Given these steps we anticipate that the review process will take 100 days or more. Assuming this timeline, the SREC-II program would be effective in February 2014.

Also, be aware that the formal proposal will likely include deviations from the DOER’s initial draft proposal that was submitted in August.

Here are the steps required prior to implementation of the SREC-II program.

Step #1 – File formal SREC-2 proposal with the MA Sec. of State

Step #2 – Hold Stakeholder Meeting in Boston (within 21 days of formal filing)

Step #3 – Assess public comments and post comments on DOER website

Step #4 – Submit Proposal to the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy

Step #5 – Post to DOER website Joint Committee comments (30 days required)

Step #6 – Submit final draft to MA Sec. of State

Step #7- SREC-2 Program effective start (likely 14+ days after final submission to Sec. of State)

Massachusetts SREC Webinar, Thursday, 11/14 at 2 pm EST.

Posted November 5th, 2013 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade will host a webinar covering the Massachusetts SREC market on Thursday, 11/14/2013 at 2 pm EST. Sign up for the webinar by clicking here or the image below.

What the Massachusetts SREC webinar will cover:

  1. The close out of the SREC-I program
  2. New SREC-II program rules and steps required for SREC-II to be implemented*
  3. Current Massachusetts SREC supply analysis
  4. Current Massachusetts SREC pricing

*UPDATE- November 12, 2013:  It is unlikely that the DOER will formally propose SREC-II in time for Thursday’s webinar. The DOER is now targeting the end November to formally post the SREC-II proposal. We will still cover the timeline for implementing SREC-II once it is formally proposed.

November 2013 MA SREC webinar