Archive for May, 2013

MA DOER Solar Stakeholder Update – 400 MW Cap

Posted May 29th, 2013 by SRECTrade.

The MA DOER sent out an email on Wednesday, May 29th to MA solar stakeholders announcing that more than 400 MW of SREC program applications are now administratively complete. The email can be read here. In total 550 MW of applications have either been qualified or are under review. The most recent data released (5/20/2013) by the DOER shows that 217.9 MW of applications are qualified and operational, suggesting that over 180 MW of capacity is qualified and not yet operational.

Below are the key points:

  • The DOER will announce the rules for a new 1,200 MW capacity program shortly.
  • 550 MW of capacity has applied for an SQA under the current 400 MW program.
  • Approximately 400 MW is defined as administratively complete.
  • The DOER will announce no later the June 4th a current list of all projects that have or will receive a Statement of Qualification. It will also post a list of projects, in order of their eligibility for qualification, that have SQAs deemed administratively complete but are beyond the 400 MW cap of qualified capacity, as well as a list of pending applications under review.
  • The DOER will continue to accept applications and allow two weeks for applicants to address any deficiencies before rejecting the applications. The DOER expects that applications received on or after June 7th, the anticipated promulgation date of the new regulation, will be reviewed under the revised regulation.
  • Some of the non-operational administratively complete and incomplete SQA applications are likely to be rejected or otherwise taken out of the application queue by project owners that are not yet prepared for construction.

What SRECTrade is doing

SRECTrade will continue to process applications with the DOER pending any clarification that applications will not be accepted. All applications that have been submitted to SRECTrade for SQA paperwork have been submitted to the DOER and will be finalized under the normal procedures. Further clarifications will be sent to our clients and partners as the DOER releases more information. Until then we will remain diligently attuned to any news from the DOER and other stakeholders.

What is the 400 MW Cap?

400 MW of installed PV capacity in Massachusetts is eligible for the current Massachusetts SREC program. Projects that are deemed eligible by the DOER to participate in the current program are allowed 40 quarters from their eligibility start date (defined by their SQA application) to produce SRECs and qualify for DOER Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auctions. Projects that are installed and registered after the 400 MW cap is reached will be eligible for another program that the DOER will outline shortly.

MA DOER Solar Industry Stakeholder Update

Posted May 23rd, 2013 by SRECTrade.

Today, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (MA DOER) sent a notice to MA Solar Industry stakeholders. The email addressed the following subjects:

    1. Post-400 MW Solar Policy Development – Stakeholder Meeting, June 7th: The DOER will host a public stakeholder meeting on Friday, June 7, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Gardner Auditorium of the State House in Boston. The DOER will present its proposed policy for the post-400 MW solar program.
    2. Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction – Account is Open for Deposits and an Auction will be Held: The Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction account is open for deposits. Deposits must be made by June 15, 2013. All clients utilizing SRECTrade’s EasyREC asset management services will have any unsold MA2012 SRECs automatically deposited into the auction account. The first round of the auction is scheduled to be held on July 26, 2013.
    3. Assurance of Qualification Guideline – Revised Draft now posted for comments: The DOER posted revisions to the qualification guidelines. This document clarifies the queuing and review process as the 400 MW Solar Carve-Out program cap is approached.

To see the original notice click here. SRECTrade will continue to provide any relevant updates on these subjects as more information becomes available.

SRECTrade SREC Markets Report: April 2013

Posted May 22nd, 2013 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade SREC Markets Report: April 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 currently 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_April2013

Overview of PJM Eligible Systems

As of May 15, 2013 there were 34,339 solar PV and 696 solar thermal systems registered and eligible to create SRECs in the PJM Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS). Of these, 228 (0.65%) have a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or greater. Twenty-five of these projects have a nameplate capacity of 5 MW or greater. New Jersey continues to host most of the larger scale facilities, claiming home to 60.0% of the projects, 15 of 25 facilities, that are equal to or greater than 5 MW. The three largest projects are a 29.1 MW FirstSolar project in MD, the 25.1 MW PSE&G utility pole mount project located in NJ, and the 16.1 MW Mount St. Mary’s project in MD.

Massachusetts DOER Qualified Projects

As of May 20, 2013, there were 5,992 MA DOER qualified solar projects; 5,897 operational and 95 not operational. Total qualified capacity is 287.0 MW, 217.9 MW of which is operational and 69.1.9 MW not operational. The not operational capacity balance increased by 37.2 MW over the last reporting period. Electricity suppliers providing power to the state need to acquire approximately 73,400 SRECs in 2012. According to NEPOOL GIS, 118,356 MA2012 SRECs have been issued for the current compliance year.

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.

 

May 2013 SRECTrade Auction Results

Posted May 22nd, 2013 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade’s May 2013 SREC Auction closed on 5/01/13. Below are the clearing prices by vintage across the markets covered in the auction.

May SREC Prices SREC Vintage Year
State 2011 2012 2013*
Delaware $35.00
Maryland $115.00
$120.00 $125.00
Massachusetts $200.00
New Jersey $120.00 $135.01 $140.01
Ohio In-State $50.00
Ohio Out-of-State $10.00 $14.00 $14.00
Pennsylvania $10.00 $13.00
Washington, DC $405.00 $420.00

Notes:
*Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania operate on a June-May energy year. For example, current vintage SRECs are generated beginning in June of 2012.
Green text represents a price increase over the last auction clearing price for that vintage, red text represents a decrease.
“-” reflects no sale, which would result if there were no SRECs available for sale in that vintage or there were no matching bids and offers to determine a clearing price.

State Market Observations:

Delaware: The Delaware market is highly illiquid. The primary buyer for DE SRECs is Delmarva Power and Light (DPL). Most SRECs are sold through DPL’s SRECDelaware program, for which SREC asset owners submit competitive applications in order to obtain 20 year SREC contracts. There continues to be some need for SRECs outside of DPL’s program and compliance buyers with a need for DE sited SRECs have recently started to submit bids for SRECs. Futhermore, DPL is also currently holding it’s own spot auction for SRECs in order to cover its 2012 energy year position outside of the SRECs that it procured through the SRECDelaware program. The spot auction order window closes on 5/22/2013.  SRECTrade administers both the DPL spot auction as well as the software behind the the SRECDelaware solicitations.

Maryland: MD eligible SREC prices came down from last month’s SRECTrade auction prices. MD2011s, MD2012s, and MD2013s  transacted at $115/SREC, $120/SREC, and $125/SREC, respectively, in the May auction.

Massachusetts: Following on the heels of the 2012 Q4 SREC issuance in April 15, MA2012 SRECs traded at $200/SREC, in line with pricing throughout 2012 vintage trading. MA2012 vintage SRECTrade auction prices have transacted between a low of $181.50/SREC in April 2013 and a high of $271.05/SREC in July 2012. Unsold SRECs should be deposited in the DOER Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction NEPOOL-GIS account by June 15, 2013. SRECs that are not deposited in the DOER auction will not be eligible for future transactions. SRECTrade expects that approximately 45,000 SRECs will be deposited in the DOER auction.  For more on the MA market read our MA blog posts.

New Jersey: A rush on NJ vintage 2011, 2012, and 2013 SRECs pushed May auction pricing up. NJ2011,  NJ2012, and NJ2013 SRECs traded at $120.00, $135.01, and $140.01/SREC, respectively. The OTC market has experienced pricing increases in line with the auction pricing. This occurred despite NJ Office of Clean Energy announcements that the total installed capacity through 4/30/2013 is estimated to be 1,049 MW, a month over month increase of approximately 22.8 MW. The New Jersey market however, continues to be over-supplied. Not including unsold over-supply carried over from previous vintages, approximately 496.7 MW of annual installed operational capacity  is required to meet the 2013 requirement. As of, 5/15/2013, 995.6 MW were registered in GATS or two times the requirement. GATS registrations tend to lag behind NJ Office of Clean Energy Data by several months because of delays in registering facilities with GATS. NJ SRECs are credited back to date of interconnection.

Ohio: OH2013 Sited SRECs transacted at $50/SREC . OH2011, 2012 and 2013 adjacent vintage SRECs traded at $10, $14 and $14/SREC respectively. As in many auctions throughout the last year  there was no sale of the OH2012 sited vintages indicating the lack of demand and oversupply in the market. 2013 is expected to continue to experience oversupply and minimal demand. Most demand for OH Sited SRECs has been fulfilled through long term agreements with large utility scale projects or through long term RFPs with the state’s regulated utilities. 2012 compliance obligations are currently being finalized.

Pennsylvania: PA2012 and 2013 SRECs traded at $10 and $13/SREC respectively, in line with previous auctions. OTC transactions have been pricing slightly higher or in line with auction prints. SREC oversupply continues to impact PA’s market. 

Washington, DC: DC SRECs continue to trade up month over month. The 2012 and 2013 vintages increased to $405 and $420/SREC, respectively. It is expected the market will continue to experience under supply into the 2013 trading year.

For historical auction pricing please see this link. The next SRECTrade auction closes on Tuesday, June 4 at 5 p.m. ET and will cover PJM and MA Solar RECs. Click here to sign in and place an order.

May 15, 2013 Massachusetts SREC Webinar Posted

Posted May 21st, 2013 by SRECTrade.

SRECTrade recorded a webinar on May 15, 2013. The webinar covered the following topics:

  1. SREC prices and supply
  2. Massachusetts SREC policy
  3. The DOER SREC auction
  4. SRECTrade asset management and brokerage services

Please click this link to view the webinar recording. 

About the speakers

Steven - mug
Steven Eisenberg is the Vice-President of Business Development. Steven has been with SRECTrade since 2010 and is responsible for starting and managing SRECTrade’s growing brokerage and institutional SREC asset management business units.
Alex mug
Alex Sheets comes to SRECTrade from SunEdison. As SRECTrade’s Director of Environmental Markets, Alex assists buyers and sellers in originating, executing, and negotiating SREC transactions in the over the counter markets.
sam's resized headshot
Sam Rust is the Director of Business Development and Channel Operations, a role he has been in since 2011. Sam focuses on working with SRECTrade’s installer partners and commercial clients.

 

One time spot auction for DE SRECs

Posted May 14th, 2013 by SRECTrade.

A one time spot auction for existing Delaware SRECs will be held on the SRECDelaware platform from May 15th to May 22nd. The Spot Auction will allow owners of existing SRECs generated from June, 2009 until today to bid to sell their SRECs.

 

Summary

  • The auction will cover only existing, already generated SRECs.
  • Delmarva Power anticipates purchasing between 2,000 and 6,000 SRECs in this auction.
  • Bidders will place bids by creating an account at SRECDelaware.com or using their existing SRECDelaware.com account.
  • Bidding window is open from May 15th at 8:00 AM EST until May 22nd at 5:00 PM EST.
  • All bids will be evaluated on price only and winning bidders will receive their bid price.
  • Systems which won contracts in the SREC Procurement Program can still participate if they have excess SRECs not covered by their contract.

Spot Auction Details

Delmarva Power anticipates purchasing between 2,000 and 6,000 SRECs in this auction. Any existing SREC produced on or after June, 2009 are eligible. All bids will be evaluated solely on price with no additional credit provided for Delaware labor or equipment. All winning bidders will be paid based on their bid price. Winning bidders will have an 8% commission deducted from their final payment.  Bid prices will remain confidential prior to the auction close.

Bids can be entered at www.SRECDelaware.com from 8:00 AM on May 15th until May 22nd at 5:00 PM EST. Customers who previously bid in one of the Delaware Procurement Programs can use their existing SRECDelaware login to participate. New participants can create a free SRECDelaware account in order to place their bids. Each SREC can be bid at a separate price if desired.

All SRECs entered into the auction must be transferred to the SRECDelaware PJM-GATS account prior to May 22nd at 5:00 PM EST. Failure to transfer the SRECs prior to the auction close will invalidate the bid. All non-winning SRECs will be returned to the bidders PJM-GATS account after the auction close. Payments for winning SRECs will be deposited directly to the winning bidder’s bank account via ACH.

Owner representatives can enter bids for their clients. If they chose to do so, they must ensure the transfer of the SRECs bid to the SRECDelaware PJM-GATS account prior to the auction close.

Winners of the 2013 SREC Procurement Program are reminded that their contracts do not include any SRECs generated prior to June, 2013. These system owners are allowed to bid their existing SRECs in this Auction. Any winners of the 2012 SREC Procurement Program with existing SRECs in excess of their contract that they wish to enter into this auction should contact srecdelaware@srectrade.com to process their bid.

Massachusetts DOER Fixes Opt-In Term at 40 Quarters

Posted May 2nd, 2013 by SRECTrade.

The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) is expected to announce via a general email that they will forego the much anticipated DOER Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction eligibility step down requirement for  systems registered after a certain date this year. Previously the DOER had stated that applications must be submitted by either June or July (the deadline was recently pushed to July 15th) in order to be eligible for the DOER Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction for 40 quarters worth of SREC production.

This adjustment has a few obvious implications. The market will now last longer (40 quarters from the date that the 400th MW is installed) and all systems will have 40 quarters of eligibility from the date that they begin their SREC production eligibility. All solar facilities registered in the current version of the Massachusetts SREC market are limited to 40 quarters of Opt-In eligibility. This announcement does not imply that existing solar facilities now have more time to produce SRECs that are eligible for the DOER Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction.

In Massachusetts SRECs are created on a quarterly basis and the DOER Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction is viewed as a price support mechanism for the stability of SREC prices. The DOER Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction goes in to effect in years where there are more SRECs available to the market than are required by the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). In previous trading years the market was under-supplied. The 2012 trading year is the first over-supplied year for Massachusetts SRECs and approximately 45,000 SRECs will be deposited in the inaugural DOER Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction. For those  clients using SRECTrade’s asset management services, EasyREC, SRECTrade will automatically transfer any unsold SRECs to the DOER Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction account. No action is required by clients utilizing this service. To learn more about the current state of the market and the upcoming DOER Solar Credit Clearinghouse Auction click here.

SRECTrade will continue to post updates on this topic as more information becomes available.