CVE North America executive discusses growth plans and market trends

Community solar is seeing promise in multiple states but is still waiting for the tide to turn that will allow for mass development in the sector, according to David Froelich, director of solar business development at CVE North America.

Froelich told NPM that CVE has seen progress in states opening programs and opportunities but pointed to an RE+ Northeast conference in Boston two years ago where a panel stated that the industry needed gigawatts.

“Everyone was so excited about New Mexico and its 200 MW program, but we need gigawatts,” he remembered. “I feel like that tide has not turned yet and that’s really what we need, so you don’t have a situation where you have 1.8 GW of projects being submitted to a 200 MW RFP in New Mexico. That’s how hungry developers are out there.”

He explained that the opportunity exists, but the framework hasn’t been put in place yet.

When asked about what the next big community solar hotspot might be, he said California but also the Midwest.

“The indications are positive,” he said. “We just need to wait and see.”

In California, he explained that the final rules on the new program aren’t out yet and the “devil is in the details.”

Right now, he said that CVE is continuing to make progress in developing sites that are applicable for the community solar market. Specifically, CVE is in the middle of construction of a portfolio with 13 projects in New York state, totaling about 70+ MW. Combined with CVE’s operating assets in Massachusetts, that goes to about 100 MW.

For the New York projects being developed, Froelich said that it’s not quite “finding a needle in a haystack but close” in finding opportunities for space on a substation and room on a feeder to be able to connect.

In Massachusetts, he stated that there are still projects in development there as well that got held up in the group study.

“When Massachusetts became overrun with interconnection requests a few years ago, they put a bunch of projects together at the same time to study them,” he said. “The findings are waiting final approval for a few projects.”

He hopes that the findings will happen soon so the projects can move onto construction, depending on what the results show. When asked what the estimated timeline is on that decision, he said there isn’t one but that CVE checks one or two months for updates.

“It’s a waiting game,” he said.

On the topic of interconnection application backlogs, Froelich echoed his position from an interview with NPM earlier this year, stating that developers and utilities need to be on the same team and right now that isn’t generally the case. CVE has had conversations with various utilities in Pennsylvania where they seemed open to provide information and suggestions, but overall, there is a lack of alignment.

In other states, CVE was awarded one project in New Mexico from its recent RFP. However, CVE is still waiting for interconnection results for it and Froelich stated that there is no clarity on what the state’s next phase will look like. The hope is for there to be a program expansion and extension like what was seen in Virginia, which is currently building its 50 MW waitlist for its shared solar program.

When asked about Colorado, Froelich stated that it is a strong state for community solar but that CVE’s approach in general is if it isn’t on to the market early then it is hesitant to jump in.

“I’m encouraged with what I hear about Colorado, but it isn’t a focus for us since there are already a bunch of players positioned in that market,” he said.

Because CVE has been expanding its development efforts and operations in O&M management, the company itself has doubled in size over the past 12 to 18 months.

Looking ahead, Froelich said that CVE is continuing to look for opportunities in markets where there is a program that fits its sweet spot of 3 MWac to 5 MWac. And though the company’s focus is on the Midwest, he said that it is not constrained by geography as other states show promise.

*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers last month.


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