Archive for July, 2014

Massachusetts Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction Update: Round 2 Does Not Clear – Final Round on Friday

Posted July 30th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

The second round of the Massachusetts Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction (SCCA) did not clear today, Wednesday July 30th. The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) announcement can be found here. As a result, the 2015 compliance obligation will be adjusted by doubling the amount of volume deposited into the auction account.

The SCCA consists of three distinct “rounds” or opportunities for buyers to purchase SRECs at a fixed price. The incentive to purchase the SRECs increases with each round. A more complete description of SCCA can be found here.

The third and final round of the SCCA will be held this Friday, August 1st. Any SRECs not purchased in the SCCA will be returned to the seller’s accounts.

Massachusetts Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction – Round 1 Begins Tuesday, July 29th

Posted July 28th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

The Massachusetts SREC-I Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction (SCCA), for 2013 vintage SRECs, will start on Tuesday, July 29th. Depending on how things go, the SCCA can run up to three separate rounds. A detailed schedule of the Department of Energy Resources (DOER) auction can be found here.

  • Round 1: Tuesday, July 29th
  • Round 2: Wednesday, July 30th
  • Round 3: Friday, August 1st

Why three rounds?

SRECs are not guaranteed to transact in the SCCA, but there are scenarios in which buyers are encouraged to participate and purchase SRECs. With each round the incentive for purchasing SRECs increases. Here is a summary of how the stakes change with each round.

Round 1:  SRECs available for sale in the first round have a 2 year useful life (i.e. 2013 SRECs purchased in round 1 can be used towards 2014 or 2015 compliance obligations). Note, the 2015 compliance obligation was increased by the number of SRECs deposited into the auction. If all of the SRECs are not purchased in the first round, the auction will move on to round 2.

Round 2: The auction is repeated, but all SRECs now have a 3 year useful life (i.e. 2013 SRECs purchased in round 2 can be used towards 2014, 2015, or 2016). If all the SRECs are not purchased in the second round, the auction will move on to round 3.

Round 3: If round 3 needs to be held, the 2015 year compliance obligation will now be increased by 2 times the number of SRECs deposited into the SCCA account (i.e. the original amount already added on to the 2015 compliance obligation times 2). Any SREC purchased in round 3 will continue to have a 3 year useful life (i.e. 2013 SRECs purchased in round 3 can be used towards 2014, 2015, or 2016). If the auction doesn’t clear (i.e. all SRECs are not purchased) then there will be a proportional distribution to successful sellers. Any unsold SRECs will be transferred back to the original depositor and the SRECs will maintain a useful life through the next 3 compliance years (i.e. 2016 for 2013 vintage SRECs).

A few important additional things to note:

  1. SRECs sold in the SREC-I SCCA are sold at a fixed value of $285/SREC to sellers.
  2. The summer 2014 SCCA is for unsold MA SREC-I 2013 vintage SRECs only. There are no 2012 or 2014 vintage SRECs in the SCCA.
  3. Any Massachusetts SRECTrade clients (that utilize SRECTrade’s management services) with unsold MA SREC-I 2013 vintage SRECs had their SRECs automatically deposited in the SCCA. The original deadline was June 15, 2014.
  4. The SCCA’s multiple round nature and review process means that the complete results of the auction may not be known until after round 3.
  5. Clients utilizing SRECTrade’s management services, with SRECs deposited into the SCCA, will be notified of the auction results when they are made available by the DOER. Any funds due from sales made in the SCCA will be remitted by SRECTrade after the DOER transfers the funds. For a complete schedule click here.

 

SRECTrade Markets Report: June 2014

Posted July 22nd, 2014 by SRECTrade.

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_June2014

Overview of PJM Eligible Systems Through 7/9/2014

There are 46,641 facilities registered in GATS as of 7/9/2014. See below for a more detailed breakdown.

Facility Breakdown

There are 284 projects over 1 MW in capacity, representing 823.0 MW or 43.7% of the qualified capacity. The largest projects in the PJM are concentrated in NJ and MD. There are 35 projects over 5 MW. These make up 18.7% of all qualified capacity in the PJM. The top 5 largest projects are listed below.

Top 5 for blog

NJ Office of Clean Energy Estimated Installed Capacity Through 7/8/14

On July 8, 2014, the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy (OCE) announced total installed solar capacity reached 1,319.2 MW; an increase of approximately 21.1 MW over the total capacity reported at the end of May. The average last six month build rate per month, according to the OCE data, is 22.5 MW. Note that this data does not directly tie to GATS registration data because of a lag between NJ Office of Clean Energy certifications and GATS registrations.

Overview of MA DOER SREC-I and II Eligible Systems

SREC-I Program

The Massachusetts SREC-I program was capped on June 30, 2014, however 125.1 MW of solar is still listed as “Qualified” but not operational on an update report issued by the DOER on 7/9/2014. In total, 660.5 MW of capacity is listed as currently qualified, of which 535.4 MW of capacity is operational.

SREC-II Program

The SREC-II program opened on April 25, 2014. The program is broken in to Market Sectors. For a detailed overview of the regulations regarding SREC-II please visit here. Overall 117.4 MW of capacity is currently qualified under the SREC-II program, but only 8.1 MW is operational.

How to Interpret The Capacity Table at the Top of this Post

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 11/8/13. 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 1,160 MWh in MA, generated per MW of installed capacity per year.

July 2014 SREC Pricing Update and Auction Results

Posted July 17th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

As of July 17, 2014, below is a summary of indicative pricing across the SREC markets SRECTrade covers (for a PDF copy click here). For July 2014 auction results, scroll down.

pricing 7_17

Note: All pricing and notes included are indicative and subject to change. Please contact us for most current markets. If a market is not quoted herein, please contact us directly for further information. 

Additionally, SRECTrade’s July 2014 SREC Auction closed on 7/15/2014. The clearing prices presented below are representative of transactions executed through the SRECTrade auction. This does not include over the counter spot and forward contract transactions completed through SRECTrade’s brokerage desk. For more information on our brokerage services for corporate clients please click here.

Below are the clearing prices by vintage across the SRECs transacted in the auction.

Auction Prices SREC Vintage Year
State 2011 2012 2013 2014
Delaware N/A N/A N/A N/A
Maryland N/A $122.01 $126.01 $126.01
Massachusetts SREC-I N/A N/A N/A $271.00
New Jersey N/A $152.55 $153.55 $162.51
Ohio Sited N/A N/A N/A N/A
Ohio Adjacent N/A N/A N/A N/A
Pennsylvania N/A $30.05 $31.05 $32.05
Washington, DC N/A N/A $472.50 N/A

The next SRECTrade auction for the PJM and MA SREC markets will close on Friday, August 1st, at 5 p.m. ET.

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Massachusetts 2015 SREC-I obligation announced

Posted July 8th, 2014 by SRECTrade.

Today, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) announced preliminary numbers for the 2015 SREC-I obligation. Assuming no changes, the 2015 SREC-I obligation will be 909,837 SRECs. The announcement can be found here.

 

In Massachusetts, the SREC compliance obligation, the amount of SRECs power suppliers are required to purchase in any given year, is determined by a formula that takes in to account the amount of SRECs to be generated, SRECs banked from previous periods, and the number of SRECs deposited and purchased in the Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction (SCCA). For the 2013 compliance period, 138,685 SRECs were deposited in the SCCA. If the SCCA does not clear in the first or second round, the preliminary 2015 compliance requirement will increase by a multiple 2 times the number of deposited SRECs. The first round of the 2013 SCCA will begin on Tuesday, July 29, 2014. For more information on the SCCA and the auction schedule click here.

For more details on how the 2015 compliance obligation was calculated click here: Preliminary Determination of CY 2015 Total Compliance Obligation and Minimum Standard

The table below demonstrates the 2015 compliance obligation if the SCCA clears in the first or second round or if the auction goes to the third round:

2015 Compliance Obligation

UPDATE: The DOER revised the 2015 SREC-I Minimum Standard percentage numbers on July 10, 2014. The DOER did not adjust the SREC compliance numbers. Original email can be found here. Please see the revised percentages below.

2015 Revised Compliance Percentage