On October 25th, the Board of Trustees of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) voted to expand its current feed-in tariff program by 100 MW for a total of 150 MW, tripling its current size. LIPA will issue the procurement no later than July 1st of next year. An additional set pricing block of 20 MW will also be held aside for wind, fuel cells, and other sources of renewable energy. It is not clear whether there will be a separate submission process for the new capacity, or whether the current queue of projects will be rolled over into the new procurement. Also, while the original feed-in tariff program featured a price of $0.22/kWh, flat, for 20 years, there is no word yet on whether the additional 100 MW will have the same pricing.

In addition to the feed-in tariff program for solar, LIPA has also committed to a competitive procurement for 280 MW of additional renewable capacity, especially targeting offshore wind. These programs in aggregate will bring 400 MW of capacity online by 2018. Since first issuing the feed-in tariff program in June with submissions accepted in July, LIPA has moved forward decisively to establish a strong presence of renewables in their energy mix.

Sol Systems is currently developing a portfolio opportunity of LIPA FIT projects that will be aggregated and sold, allowing developers of projects under 5 or 10 MW to access better and more competitive sources of financing that typically avoid smaller solar deals.  Therefore, we would be interested in talking with any companies developing projects that are in LIPA’s FIT queue or have been awarded a contract, and we would be happy to provide more background on the structuring and pricing of such a portfolio. For more information or to discuss a project or investment opportunity, please contact the SolMarket team at info@solmarket.com. We will continue to follow developments in LIPA’s solar incentives and update our investor/developer community on SolMarket.

About Sol Systems

Sol Systems is a solar finance firm and a leader in financial innovation in the renewable energy industry. Since its inception in 2008, Sol Systems has partnered with 350 solar installers and developers to bring over 3,000 solar projects from conception to completion by offering innovative financing solutions for residential, commercial, and utility-scale projects.

Sol Systems’ financing programs catalyze investments for a broad set of solar projects by simplifying their origination, diligence, and financing processes. Developers seeking financing for solar projects can access over $2.5 billion in capital through the Sol Systems investor network.

In addition to providing financing, Sol Systems also offers project due diligence, deal structuring, and asset management services – all designed to reduce overhead and transaction costs and quicken project development timelines.

For more information, please visit www.solsystemscompany.com or www.solmarket.com.