Rise Light & Power unveils plans for New York Clean Energy Hub
Rise Light & Power,
a wholly-owned subsidiary of the LS Power group, announced plans to redevelop
its Ravenswood Generating Station – one of New York City’s largest power
generators – as a new renewable energy hub.
Rise’s solution, “Renewable Ravenswood,” seeks to reposition the 27-acre
waterfront industrial site to serve as a central hub that can integrate
clean energy sources, including offshore wind and upstate wind and solar,
directly into New York City’s electric grid.
The Renewable Ravenswood redevelopment plan encompasses several programs.
The proposal includes repurposing existing infrastructure to connect offshore
wind energy to the New York City grid. It also seeks to connect new wind,
solar, and other clean energy resources from Upstate to New York City’s
electric grid. Furthermore, the plan includes balancing the intermittent
nature of renewables by deploying large-scale battery energy storage directly
on the facility site.
The Renewable Ravenswood proposal also looks to repurposing Ravenswood’s
river water intake system to provide zero-emission thermal energy to nearby
communities.
If approved by regulators, Rise Light & Power claims its Ravenswood
project would power more than 2 million New York homes with renewable energy,
in addition to providing heating and cooling for up to 15,000 local residences.
Rise plans to file the first of many formal plans and detailed applications
with state energy regulators and authorities later this year. Each of Renewable
Ravenswood’s programs are subject to a number of regulatory approvals,
and further details will be made available in the coming months.
"New York City has for too long relied almost exclusively on fossil
fuels to power the city. Our future demands innovative and reliable clean
energy solutions, and we will deliver just that with our bold move to retire
Ravenswood’s 1960s-era fossil fuel units and transition to a Renewable
Ravenswood in its place,” said Clint Plummer, Chief Executive Officer
of Rise Light & Power. “Rise Light & Power’s vision for a
Renewable Ravenswood will transform New York’s energy system and help
the state achieve its ambitious climate targets.”
“New York has established nation-leading goals to tackle the climate crisis
head-on, with rapid growth in renewables facilitating the energy transition,”
said Paul Segal, CEO of LS Power, owner of Rise Light & Power.
“A Renewable Ravenswood provides a coherent path for realizing the city’s
and state’s goals for rapid deployment of low-carbon energy resources,
while ensuring continued energy security, affordability and reliability
as our economy transitions toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.”
“The union employees that have proudly run Ravenswood for years will continue
to do so because New York City and Rise Light & Power understand the
expertise our brothers and sisters bring to the plant every day,”
said Jim Shillitto, President of Utility Workers of America Local 1-2.
“Union workers built and operated the energy infrastructure that powered
the nation over the last century, and we are ready to do the same for the
next 100 years. We applaud Rise for recognizing the valuable expertise
of our workers and for helping to ready them for jobs in the growing clean
energy industry.”
