Archive for December, 2013

SRECTrade Markets Report: November 2013

Posted December 23rd, 2013 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade SREC Markets Report: November 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_November2013 copy

Overview of PJM Eligible Systems

As of December 4, 2013 there were 39,469 solar PV and 794 solar thermal systems (a 1.4% period-over-period increase) registered and eligible to create SRECs in the PJM Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS). Of these, 257 (up 1 project since October and representing 0.64% of the total projects installed) have a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or greater, but account for 42.43% of the overall capacity registered. Twenty-eight of these projects have a nameplate capacity of 5 MW or greater (an increase of 1 project period over period). New Jersey continues to host most of the larger scale facilities, claiming home to 17 of the 28 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 11/30/13: On December 9, 2013, the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy (OCE) announced total installed solar capacity reached 1,168.1 MW; an increase of approximately 13 MW over the total capacity reported at the end of October. The average last six month build rate per month, according to the OCE data, is 11.6 MW.

Massachusetts DOER Qualified Projects

As of December 20, 2013, there were 9,512 MA DOER qualified solar projects; 9,261 operational and 251 not operational. Total qualified capacity is 694.6 MW (an increase of 2.8 MW since our last monthly capacity report); 335.8 MW of which is operational (up 42.3 MW from the DOER’s October 16 report) and 358.8 MW is not operational under the current SREC-I program.

Not operational, qualified projects over 100 kW in size must demonstrate at least 50% of the project’s costs be incurred 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.

 

Turning the page on 2013: Exciting changes at SRECTrade

Posted December 20th, 2013 by SRECTrade.

A note from our CEO, Brad Bowery:

As 2013 concludes, it marks the end of my 5th and final year at SRECTrade. As we head into 2014, my close colleague for nearly 4 of those years, Steven Eisenberg, will assume the role of CEO. Steven has led our business development efforts and driven the growth of our brokerage desk and I am fortunate to have someone I can trust to take over our business and continue what my partner, Kevin Quilliam, and I have created.

For the 5th consecutive year, 2013 was our best year yet, and prospects look even better for 2014! In the last two years, our products and services have been fully defined, we have put a great team in place and our business has achieved ever-elusive profitability in a highly uncertain solar industry. SRECTrade has evolved from a simple website hosting monthly auctions in 2008 to a full services brokerage desk, online marketplace and SREC transaction management software platform. In early 2014, we will be launching a major overhaul of our entire website. SRECTrade 2.0 is a project started in 2012 to rebuild our entire infrastructure from the ground up. I’m very excited for the launch of the new site as it appropriately reflects the maturity of our business over the past few years.

With the company in good hands and the business in a healthy place, I felt this was a great time to move on to my next adventure. I have a passion for building companies and have at least one more startup in me! In the meantime, I am looking forward to seeing SRECTrade continue to prosper under Steven’s guidance.

Finally, our company wouldn’t be what it is today without help. Over the past 5 years, I’ve been joined by a brilliant business partner, an extremely supportive investor, 6 co-founders, 15 employees, 25 interns, 300 channel partners, 10,000 customers, over 60 energy suppliers and the kind folks at the various state agencies including MA DOER and CEC PTS, PA AEPS and PUC, MD PSC, DC PSC, DE SEU and PSC, NJ BPU and OCE, PUC of OH, PJM GATS, and NEPOOL GIS who have all contributed to making our vision, of a transparent, online platform for transacting SRECs, a reality. In this respect, I have been remarkably fortunate.

I am most proud when I think of our wonderful employees who have stuck with us through thick and thin. In over 5 years, we have turned over just one employee, which is a testament to the work environment that we, collectively, have created! I am also lucky to have been continuously on the same page with a great partner and investor, both of whom have been tremendous assets along this journey. They were particularly incredible throughout the difficult decision to make this transition and I am grateful for all they have done.

Thank you for a great 5 years, and here’s to many more!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

-Brad Bowery

SRECTrade_Tahoe

 

DOER Commissioner Mark Sylvia’s SREC-II Preview

Posted December 20th, 2013 by SRECTrade.

The Massachusetts SREC market is in the process of switching from the existing SREC-I program to a yet to be officially proposed SREC-II program.  At a meeting held on Friday, 12/13/2013, Mark Sylvia, the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER),  presented a preview of some items we should expect to find in the DOER’s official SREC-II proposal.

In August 2013, the DOER  presented a draft proposal for the SREC-II program with the intention to incorporate feedback from stakeholder groups before presenting a final proposal sometime by the end of 2013. Now that 2013 is nearly done, it’s likely that the formal proposal will not emerge until early January 2014. Once the SREC-II proposal is issued there are several regulatory hoops that the proposal must go through before the program can be put in place. We blogged about the SREC-II implementation timeline in a previous post here and expect the process to take 100 days or more.

Key items learned from Mark Sylvia’s presentation

Items that have not changed from the draft proposal

1) SREC factors and Market Sectors – Depending on project size and other considerations projects will be able to produce SRECs at different rates. Smaller projects receive more SRECs on a per MW-hr basis than larger projects. For example, a residential project will receive 1 SREC for every MW-hr produced, whereas a landfill sited project might receive 0.8 SRECs per MW-hr. SREC factor will be determined by Market Sectors as described below.

Market Sectors

2) Declining Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction (SCCA) pricing and Alternative Compliance Payment (ACP) rates – The SCCA is the MA market’s price floor mechanism. In SREC-I the SCCA is fixed at a price of $300/SREC, but the SCCA will drop from $300 to $285 starting in 2017 and then drop again on a yearly basis with SREC-II. The SREC-II ACP rate will start at $375 in 2014 and 2015 and decline, beginning in 2016, as shown in the table below.

ACP Schedule

Items that HAVE changed from the draft proposal

1) No Forward SREC Minting
Originally the DOER proposed that residential projects should be eligible to create 10 years worth of SRECs  at the onset of a project. This provision was removed, presumably amid concerns about how to properly track and incentivize SREC production after the upfront issuance and payment is made.
 
2) No Competitive SREC Factor 
All projects are to be assigned fixed SREC factors determined by Market Sector. In the DOER’s draft proposal, projects under the Managed Growth Market Sector (>500 kW and less than 67% on site electricity usage) would competitively offer for a spot to be eligible for the SREC-II program by adjusting the SREC factor. Projects with the lowest SREC factors would be given a spot in the eligible projects queue. This is no longer the case.
 
3) New Grant Program for Directly Owned Residential Facilities 
The Commonwealth Solar II grant program will stay in place until another $30 million program can be implemented using Alternative Compliance Payment (ACP) funds to support direct ownership. Presumably 3rd party leasing / PPA entities will not be able utilize the funds. It was previously expected that the current grant program would end with the sunset of SREC-I.
 
How Much Longer?
In-line with our expectations, the presentation announced the RPS revisions for SREC-II should be filed any day. A public hearing and comment period will follow as well as committee review processes. The DOER projects that the rules will become effective by the end of Q1 2014. We will continue to keep a close eye on the rule making process and provide updates as they are available.