Page 12 - North American Clean Energy July/August 2020 Issue

solar energy
Solar Project Bottlenecks
Starting to Ease
by Adam Krop
IN THE MIDST OF WIDESPREAD UNCERTAINTY
across the globe from COVID-19, the solar supply chain is finding its way. During the shelter-in-place period, we struggled to set up our homes as an office space, virtual classroom, and perhaps an in-house gym. We held numerous conference calls with solar stakeholders sitting adjacent to middle schoolers in algebra class. Not necessarily ideal for productivity, but we were all in the same boat as we adapted to the temporary reality. Solar project developers faced some short-term bottlenecks, but are learning from their experiences.
Teams that have remained actively engaged throughout this period have done so, in part, by the inclusion of solar in the federal definition of a critical infrastructure business. Typically, long lead times are a curse for large-scale project development, creating some uncertainty in budgeting and forecasting. During this pandemic, however, this is a silver lining. Project developers are familiar with lumpy revenue projections, prudently building in buffers to forecasts to account for potential delays. Early stage project pipelines were most at risk for delays, due to the in-person nature of early stage development. However, projects farther along continued to check boxes through the development cycle. As sheltering restrictions ease, the industry is seeing several steps in the development process return to a healthy pace.
On the interconnection front, activity remained fairly consistent over the past three months. Utilities were deemed essential both on the federal level and in numerous states. Developers in New York received notices that some interconnection payments could be deferred by weeks to account for delays in moving to remote office operations. After a
brief slowdown in communications, the normal response rates resumed for projects that were already in queue. In general, utility contacts adapted well to the new working environment and were proactive in mitigating potential bottlenecks. For example, utilities began to offer virtual solutions, such as virtual site visits to keep projects moving through the queue. Today, interconnection deposits for late stage projects have resumed, allowing early stage due diligence (such as capacity screens) to continue at prospective sites.
Permitting offices experienced the same brief slowdown that many dealt with at the early stages of the pandemic. Slow responses and aversion to change stalled an efficient pivot to working from the home office. As a result, the shelter-in-place mandates had a greater long-term impact on permitting entities or Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs), especially in areas
that saw a higher rate of infection. Permitting was the main bottleneck throughout the three-month period, as public hearings were on hold. Eventually, some AHJs adopted technologies
that aided working from home, helping to slowly regain contact with administrators in this process. Some AHJs in New York and Maine have recently re-opened, allowing developers to schedule
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www.nacleanenergy.com
Utilities and Financing remained active throughout, while Permitting most impacted by sheltering mandates.