SRECTrade SREC Markets Report: May 2013
The following post is a monthly update outlining the megawatts of solar capacity certified to create SRECs in the Solar REC markets 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.
Overview of PJM Eligible Systems
As of June 10, 2013 there were 35,136 solar PV and 706 solar thermal systems registered and eligible to create SRECs in the PJM Generation Attribute Tracking System (GATS). Of these, 238 (0.66%) 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. Unchanged from the last couple of months, 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.
NJ Office of Clean Energy Estimated Installed Capacity Through 5/31/13: On June 11, 2013, the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy announced that total installed solar capacity reached 1,078.4 MW; an increase of approximately 29.3 MW over April’s total capacity.
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 MW not operational. As of June 7, 2013, the MA DOER published a new RPS Solar Carve-Out list demonstrating the projects that are currently under review for a statement of qualification under the current solar carve-out program. Under the original 400 MW cap, there are 305 projects (237 operational and 68 not operational) qualified totaling 115 MW (3.4 operational and 111.6 not operational). Additionally, the DOER report provided information about projects that fall outside of the original 400 MW cap. There are 1,323 projects (456 operational and 867 not operational) totaling 504.3 MW (7.2 operational and 497.1 not operational) on this section of the list. Based on the information presented at the MA DOER Stakeholder meeting on Friday, June 7, 2013, some of these projects may qualify as eligible under the emergency regulations to be implemented.
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.
Tweet