Solar Capacity in the SREC States – June 2011

SRECTrade SREC Markets Report: June 2011

The following post outlines the megawatts of solar capacity certified and/or registered to create SRECs in the SREC markets SRECTrade currently serves.

For a PDF copy of this table click here.

PJM Eligible Systems

As of the end of June, there were 16,381 solar PV (16,069) and solar thermal (312) systems registered and eligible to create SRECs in the PJM Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS) registry. Of these eligible systems, 65 (0.40%) have a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or greater, of which only 4 systems are greater than 5 MW. The largest system, currently located in New Jersey, is 18.3 MW,  and the second largest, located in Ohio is 12 MW. The third largest system, at 10 MW, is located in IL and eligible for the MD, PA, and DC SREC markets. The fourth largest, at 6.2 MW, is located in New Jersey.

New Energy Year To Begin for DE, NJ, and PA

June 1, 2011 marks the beginning of the new energy year for DE, NJ, and PA. All requirements for these markets increase given their RPS solar carve out schedules. SRECs for the month of June, the first creation period for the new reporting year, will be minted at the end of July.

Delaware: The reporting year 2011-2012 requirement for DE equates to approximately 21 MW being online for the entire year or approximately 25,600 SRECs created. As of June 30, 2011, 9.1 MW of solar capacity was registered and eligible to create DE SRECs in PJM GATS.

New Jersey: The reporting year 2012 requirement for NJ equates to approximately 368 MW being online for the entire year with a fixed SREC requirement of 442,000 MWhs. As of June 30, 2011, 332 MW of solar capacity was registered and eligible to create NJ SRECs in PJM GATS. As of April 30, 2011, the NJ Office of Clean Energy (NJOCE) reported that 330.5 MW (9,181 projects) of solar had been installed in the state. The NJOCE data shows that from November 2010 – April 2011, the average installed capacity per month was 18 MW. Forecasts prepared by the NJOCE, show the monthly rate of installation through September 2011 ranging between 17 – 30 MW per month depending on different scenarios.

Pennsylvania: The reporting year 2012 requirement for PA equates to approximately 44 MW being online for the entire year or approximately 53,000 SRECs created. As of June 30, 2011, 104.8 MW of solar capacity was registered and eligible to create PA SRECs in PJM GATS.

Massachusetts DOER Qualified Projects

As of May 6, 2011, there were 524 MA DOER qualified solar projects; 467 operational and 57 not operational. Of these qualified systems, 11 (2.1%) have a nameplate capacity of 1 megawatt or greater, of which only 3 are between 1.5 and 2 MW. Three of the projects greater than 1 MW are currently operational.

Capacity Summary By State

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. For example, New Jersey needs approximately 255 MW online for the entire 2011 reporting year to meet the RPS requirement. 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.

Tags: DC SRECs, DE SRECs, East Coast Solar Capacity, GATS, MA DOER, MA SRECs, MD SRECs, NEPOOL GIS, NJ SRECs, OH SRECs, PA SRECs, RECs, Renewable Energy Certificates, renewable portfolio standard, Solar Capacity, Solar Carve-Out, Solar Renewable Energy Certificates, Solar Renewable Energy Credits, SREC Aggregator, SREC States, SRECs