New York accelerates clean power tender to lock federal incentives

• New York launched an accelerated solicitation so shovel-ready wind and solar can capture federal tax credits, with emphasis on deliverability and schedules.

New York is pushing an accelerated clean power tender, aiming to get shovel-ready wind and solar into construction while federal incentives remain most generous. The window is tight: bids due quickly, awards targeted on a fast track, and explicit emphasis on projects that can prove deliverability—mature permits, long-lead electrical gear on order, and credible CODs.

The shift reflects two pressures. First, the state’s 70%-by-2030 target demands volume, but not at the expense of realism; stranded awards don’t cut carbon. Second, developers are racing to bank tax credits and transferability terms that materially improve economics. Those that locked transformers and switchgear early will score well; others will need creative phasing and prefabricated substation blocks to compress schedules.

Evaluation will look beyond price. Hourly shape matters in a system with deep mid-day solar and peaky winter evenings; hybrids and battery-ready designs can earn an edge. Labor availability, interconnection queue position, and community benefits—prevailing wage, apprenticeship, and local investment—are no longer footnotes; they’re gating items.

For sponsors, the solicitation is both opportunity and stress test. The winners will be projects that already solved the boring but brutal bits: land control, rights-of-way, environmental mitigation, and supply. Convert those, and paper megawatts become steel—and electrons.