Representatives from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) gave more details this week about its Competitive Solar Incentive (CSI) Program, which aims to solicit 300 MW of solar and 160 MW of co-located storage during a third round this year.

With the pre-qualification window open as of May 14, NJBPU’s informational session on June 12 included some additional details for developers planning to submit bids into the new round, including the fact that projects participating in the upcoming Dual-Use Agrivoltaics Pilot Program may also benefit from the CSI program.

The CSI Program was established in 2022 following the passage of the Solar Act in 2021. The program provides Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SREC IIs) to qualifying grid supply solar facilities and non-residential net metered solar facilities with a capacity greater than five megawatts, as well as to eligible grid supply solar facilities in combination with storage.

The pre-application window, which ensures projects meet siting and maturity requirements, opened May 14 and the deadline for review is June 27. Reviewed pre-qualification submissions will be returned July 16 to give time for corrections and edits ahead of July 23, the deadline for final pre-qualification and bid submission.

NJBPU representatives said projects enrolled in the state’s upcoming Dual-Use Agrivoltaics Pilot Program aren’t subject to the CSI thresholds but will be eligible for a baseline incentive through CSI if they sell energy on the wholesale market.

In late 2024, NJBPU finalized the rules for and launched its Dual-Use Agrivoltaics Pilot Program, the first state-led dual-use agrivoltaics program in the country. The new pilot program will provide incentives for the installation and operation of up to 200 MW of solar over the next three years, specifically on designated farmland.

NJBPU asked for expressions of interest from potential developers earlier this year and the program is expected to be operational this year.

Additionally, the NJBPU announced some changes to the CSI program ahead of the pre-application window opening.

As a way to boost competition, the Board approved a series of recommendations for the third solicitation to adjust capacity targets in the tranche for grid supply projects sited on the built environment, allowing for projects on industrial land and floating solar.

In particular, Tranche 4’s capacity target for net-metered, non-residential projects greater than 5 MW was reduced from 40 MW to 15 MW to encourage more robust participation in other tranches.

The tranches for this round and their solicitation targets are as follows:

• Tranche 1: Basic grid supply, 150 MW
• Tranche 2: Grid supply on the built environment, 80 MW
• Tranche 3: Grid supply on contaminated sites and landfills, 55 MW
• Tranche 4: Net metered non-residential projects larger than 5 MW, 15 MW
• Tranche 5: Energy Storage Paired with Grid Supply Solar, 160 MWh

“The idea is to have difference tranches so that projects within each tranche are competing strictly on price, but different projects have an opportunity to get awards,” Aliea Afnon-Munger from Daymark Energy Advisors said.

In May, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy directed the NJBPU to expedite opening both a new CSI program solicitation and Community Solar Energy Program (CSEP) capacity block by the end of 2025. The new round of CSEP, which opened for applications April 30 and closed May 13, includes 250 MW of new solar procurement.

PSE&G and ACE capacity block territories were actually oversubscribed after the initial registration period, so NJBPU used a tie breaker process. Those two blocks are closed now, but the CSEP portal is still accepting applications for available capacity in RECO and JCP&L blocks.