Customer Profile: The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency (NCIDA) is a public benefit corporation of New York State. The agency is dedicated to promoting sustainable economic growth and development strategies in Nassau County, aiming to enhance the county’s competitiveness within New York State.
Challenge: NCIDA sought to identify potential sites for installing renewable energy sources, specifically wind and photovoltaic (PV) systems, on county-owned properties. The objective was to determine the most suitable locations for these distributed energy resources, considering both technical and economic feasibility.
Stark Solution: Stark Tech conducted a feasibility assessment of on-site distributed energy resources (DER) across Nassau County. The goal of this assessment was to identify and prioritize potential sites for solar PV and wind energy installations while evaluating their technical and economic feasibility.
Our team completed an initial screening of all county-owned properties, evaluating them against minimum criteria for site selection. This process narrowed down the possibilities to 22 locations suitable for solar PV installations and 2 for wind energy. Among the solar PV sites, we identified the top 10 for rooftop and solar canopy applications, particularly for parking lots, based on their potential for energy generation. The remaining solar PV sites were evaluated for ground-mounted systems.
A thorough “fatal flaw” analysis was performed to assess the viability of the identified sites, considering factors such as roofing conditions, structural integrity, and electrical infrastructure. These sites underwent further analysis, including an electric tariff analysis, estimation of the annual electric usage that could be offset, and evaluation of the potential energy generation capacity per site.
Project Result: A detailed techno-economic analysis was conducted, considering system performance and various revenue models for the proposed wind and solar projects. Stark Tech developed a cost-benefit analysis for the top 15 sites, factoring in capital and operational costs, as well as projected energy generation over a 25-year lifespan. The life cycle cost assessment considered financing options, including direct project financing by Nassau County or a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a third-party provider, likely through the solar PV contractor.
The analysis identified five high-performing projects capable of generating a total of 13.8 million kWh annually for Nassau County facilities. For these projects, we also evaluated potential energy storage options using commercially available lithium-ion battery technology. The analysis showed that implementing energy storage would be economically beneficial, particularly for the Cradle of Aviation and Nassau Community College, under current incentive structures.
Recommendations:
To facilitate the implementation of these DER projects, our team provided a series of actionable next steps:
- Create and Issue RFP to Eligible Contractors: Nassau County should issue a request for proposals (RFP) for the implementation of solar energy projects, focusing on obtaining a PPA from contractors for the next 20 years.
- Interview and Select Contractor: Upon receiving proposals, Nassau County should interview the top candidates based on the evaluation criteria outlined in the RFP. A contractor should be selected based on these criteria and the interview process.
- Start Interconnection and Incentive Application Process: The selected contractor should initiate the application process for interconnection and available incentives for the DER projects.
Demonstrated Capabilities:
- Comprehensive screening of potential solar sites
- Independent engineering and interconnection analysis
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Stark Tech is a market leading technology provider, delivering turnkey solutions with master systems integration, equipment, and service, and building analytics that drive sustainability goals and keep facilities on their mission. Stark Tech also manufacturers large, skidded equipment that decarbonizes and reduces greenhouse gas emissions through renewable energy sources and by converting waste into renewable natural gas.
