New York State launches $40 million microgrid competition

14 January, 2015

On Jan. 23, the Danish Cleantech Hub and the Dutch Consulate General in New York are organizing a webinar to encourage eligible companies to participate in the competition. The event will be broadcast between 3 and 5 p.m. European Central time (Copenhagen/Amsterdam).

New York State has launched a $40 million competition to help communities create microgrids that can operate independently in the event of a power outage.

NY Prize will help communities reduce costs, promote clean energy, and build reliability and resiliency into the electric grid. NY Prize is a part of a statewide initiative under Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to modernize New York State’s electric grid, spurring innovation and community partnerships with utilities, local governments, and private sector. NY Prize will enable the technological, operational, and business models that will help communities reduce costs, promote clean energy, and build reliability and resiliency into the grid.

NY Prize will be administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

NY Prize offers financial support for feasibility studies, audit-grade engineering design and business planning, and project build-out and post-operational monitoring.

The competition is structured in three phases:,

25 feasibility studies, with funding of up to $100.000 each
10 bids for community microgrid projects, with funding of up to $1 million each
5 projects up to $7 million per project

In this webinar, Director of NY Prize Micah Kotch will explain the framework of the competition and the three phases. Furthermore, he will try to answer the following questions: