Press Releases
07/25/2023
DEEP Releases Draft Clean Energy Solicitations
Planned Solicitations for Offshore Wind, Other Zero Carbon Energy, and Energy Storage Resources to Advance Energy Affordability, Reliability, and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
(HARTFORD) — The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (“DEEP”) today released two draft Requests for Proposals for new large-scale zero carbon electricity resources. The proposals will help advance Governor Lamont’s Energy Action Plan to improve energy affordability and reliability for Connecticut ratepayers, and help achieve the state’s statutory mandates for a 100 percent zero carbon electric sector by 2040 and economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction of at least 80 percent below 2001 levels by 2050.
The two draft Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are for new offshore wind and other new zero carbon electricity generating resources. With release of the two draft competitive requests for proposals, DEEP is soliciting written public comments due by August 8, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Both draft RFPs would request private developers submit bids to DEEP by January 31, 2024, to build new clean energy resources. In addition to these two these two RFPs, DEEP is also preparing an RFP for energy storage facilities, to further enhance grid reliability; that RFP will be released in draft form for public comment later this year.
“As we have seen in recent months, Connecticut residents and businesses are vulnerable to energy price spikes linked to global fuel markets and geopolitical events,” said DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes. “At the same time, the dangerous impacts of carbon pollution are now being felt more regularly and severely as we face the simultaneous challenges of heat waves, flooding from more intense storms, and wildfires that are polluting our air. Investing in cost-competitive zero carbon energy is critical to make our energy supply more affordable, reliable, and clean, and will build on the important work the Lamont Administration and Legislature have undertaken to address energy costs and grow Connecticut’s clean economy and workforce.”
Further details on submitting comments are available in DEEP’s public notices for the offshore wind and zero-carbon energy resources requests for proposals. Consistent with Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16a-3n, Commissioner Dykes also has convened a Commission on Environmental Standards (CES) to provide input on what a sufficient environmental and fisheries mitigation plan for new offshore wind projects should include. The CES’s final recommendations to DEEP are due by August 1, 2023. DEEP’s draft requests for proposals for offshore wind and zero carbon energy are available here and here, respectively.
In the coming months, DEEP will release a separate draft solicitation for new energy storage resources that can displace fossil-fuel based electric generation, particularly in environmental justice communities, interconnect large new loads from electrification, and support integration of renewables.
The purpose of the offshore wind, zero carbon energy, and energy storage solicitations is to secure cost-effective zero carbon resources that can improve the reliability of the region’s electric grid, while improving energy affordability and reducing dependence on fossil fuel resources that are subject to volatile pricing and delivery constraints. The solicitations are also consistent with decarbonizing Connecticut’s electricity grid by 2040; achieving the state’s economy-wide GHG emissions reduction goals, including an interim GHG emissions reduction target of at least 45 percent below 2001 levels by 2030; and other energy and environmental goals and policies established in DEEP’s Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) and Comprehensive Energy Strategy.
DEEP’s forthcoming solicitation for energy storage will be conducted under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-243dd and in furtherance of Conn. Gen. Stat. §16-243cc, which sets a state deployment target of 1,000 MW of energy storage by 2030 with interim targets of 300 MW by 2024 and 650 MW by 2027. On June 22, 2023, DEEP held a technical meeting to present its initial thinking on the energy storage solicitation and requested public comments by July 24, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. More details are available in the meeting notice. DEEP will release a draft request for proposals for energy storage resources for public comment later this year.
In October 2021, DEEP released its IRP, which modeled multiple pathways to achieve a 100 percent zero carbon electric sector and showed that Connecticut has already made significant progress. It demonstrated multiple achievable pathways to a zero-carbon electric sector by 2040, which will increase reliability and control costs. In August 2022, DEEP issued a Procurement Plan Update to the IRP, announcing solicitations that DEEP planned to undertake in 2023 to implement the findings and recommendations of the IRP for Connecticut. The offshore wind, zero-carbon energy, and energy storage solicitations were identified in the IRP and the Procurement Plan Update as critical steps to continue the state on its path toward a zero-carbon electric sector. With the passage of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the federal Inflation Reduction Act, which constitutes the single biggest climate investment in U.S. history, DEEP anticipates that new clean energy resources are poised to benefit from new federal incentives designed to lower costs.
For more information, please visit the DEEP Energy Filing webpage here: Energy Filings (state.ct.us).
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Contact
DEEP Communications
DEEP.communications@ct.gov
860-424-3110