New York’s solar development team at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to purchase three distributed projects in western New York. The three facilities, launched through NYSERDA’s Build-Ready Program are the Vincent Welch, Whitmer 1, and Whitmer 2 solar power projects. Each has a grid connection capacity of up to 5 MWac.
Winning bidders may take the projects through any stage of development, from early-stage work to ownership and operation. Bidders can submit a single bid for all three sites, or separate bids for either the Love Canal (Vincent Welch) or the Whitmer projects. However, bids for Whitmer 1 and Whitmer 2 must be combined into one proposal.
The RFP page for Build-Ready Program DG RFP (BRRFP25-1) includes extensive documentation, such as project details, single-line diagrams, power grid upgrade requirements, and more.
The first project is the BR Vincent Welch 5 MW AC solar PV project (shown above), also known as the Love Canal solar facility. It is located on the former Griffin Manor housing complex site in Niagara Falls, adjacent to the infamous Love Canal industrial waste site.
The Whitmer facilities, BR Whitmer 1 (BR Project 11 LLC) and BR Whitmer 2 (BR Project 10 LLC), are two 5 MWac solar PV arrays co-located on the capped Niagara County Refuse Site. This site, used between 1969 and 1976 for municipal, industrial solid, and chemical waste, straddles the Town of Wheatfield and the City of North Tonawanda.
The awardee must reimburse NYSERDA for all interconnection costs incurred to date and include any future costs in the bid price. NYSERDA has already completed interconnection studies, documented in a Coordinated Electric System Interconnection Review (CESIR) study.
NYSERDA notes that distribution and substation upgrades are required for the Vincent Welch project, with an outstanding balance of $716,421, after cost-sharing. For the Whitmer projects, NYSERDA will cover interconnection costs through approximately October 1, 2025.
Proposals are scored first on non-price criteria, then compared to their peers. Applicants must earn at least 15 of 30 points in both the “Proposer Qualifications and Experience” and the “Project Execution Plan” categories to advance to price evaluation. Proposals that do not meet these minimum thresholds will not have their pricing considered.
The Build-Ready program aims to reduce risk in developing solar projects on sites the state has targeted for solar development, including the three landfill sites in this RFP. The state saw that their ability to connect with land owners, and local jurisdictions, would allow them to cut through some of the bureaucratic processes associated with developing complex sites.
The program recently selected CleanCapital to build the 12 MW Benson Mines Solar Project, the first project to fully progress through the Build-Ready process. Another Build-Ready project, the Camillus Solar facility atop a landfill, recently reached construction-ready status.
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