Senator Farley Joins Governor Pataki In Announcing $15.5 Million For Clean Energy Products

State Senator Hugh T. Farley (R, C - Schenectady ) joins Governor George E. Pataki in announcing $15.5 million in funding awarded to support distributed generation and combined heat and power (DG/CHP) projects throughout the State, including Schenectady County. The projects support the State's energy goals by augmenting the availability of clean and efficient generation capacity and the development of technologies for use in combined heat and power applications.

"New York State is leading the nation in deploying and demonstrating on-site distributed generation technologies," Governor Pataki said. "This technology enables energy users to take control of their energy costs while benefitting the State's environment, economic development, and energy security. This funding will help reduce costs for energy consumers and enhance the quality of the environment today and for future generations."

The projects being funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) represent a total investment of more than $90 million in distributed generation technologies and combined heat and power applications when co-funding is factored in. Collectively, the projects should create approximately 29 MW of new generating capacity with over one-half of that fueled by renewable fuels such as landfill or anaerobic digester gases. These projects will allow commercial, agricultural, and industrial energy users to generate their own electricity and use their waste heat from electricity generation in more productive ways.

To date NYSERDA’s DG-CHP program has been highly successful. Since its inception in 2001, NYSERDA has solicited DG-CHP projects through five rounds of funding, receiving nearly 500 proposals of which more than 100 CHP demonstration projects, and 50 product development projects were selected for funding. As of today, 34 CHP demonstration projects are operational producing more than 13 MW of electricity. It is expected that nearly 40 MW of electricity will be produced by the end of 2005.

NYSERDA President Peter R. Smith said, "With Governor Pataki's support, New York is leading the way in supporting combined heat and power applications. Since the program began four years ago, there has been a surging interest in the deployment of combined heat and power technologies from industrial and commercial energy users. We have seen a tremendous amount of interest and an increase in the quality of proposals received under this program."

Public Service Commission Chairman William M. Flynn said, "New York's competitive energy markets are creating opportunities for customers to meet their energy needs with innovative and efficient approaches such as on-site combined heat and power units. With demand for electricity reaching record levels throughout the state this summer, these types of systems become an important component in our efforts to maintain system reliability and mitigate the effects of price spikes by reducing demand from the grid during peak demand periods."

Combined heat and power applications provide much greater overall efficiency than centralized power plants by taking advantage of the waste heat generated and turning it into usable energy. The efficiency of a typical combined heat and power system approaches 70 percent, while the overall efficiency of centralized power plants is about 35 percent due to generator heat losses at centralized plants, and transmission losses in delivering power from the plant to the customer.

This fifth-round for the DG/CHP solicitation received 79 proposals and, after a thorough and competitive evaluation, 32 projects were selected. The five categories of the solicitation allowed for numerous creative projects. The categories included CHP demonstration projects, site-specific CHP feasibility studies, statewide CHP technology transfer studies, new product development projects, and new product feasibility studies. Projects from four of the categories were selected to receive a share of the funding.

The projects selected from Senator Farley's District include: