Innovative Wind Technology Incentive
What is the Innovative Wind Technology Incentive?
The Innovative Wind Technology Incentive (IWTI) is designed to support the growth of wind turbine technologies that do not meet all the program’s current requirements. This would include non-listed horizontal axis turbines, listed horizontal axis turbines that will not be installed to conform to current program requirements, vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) and other new technology turbines. Projects using these technologies will be eligible to earn an incentive under the Innovative Wind Technology Incentive (IWTI) methodology. If approved for the IWTI, the incentive payment will be paid based on actual performance of the turbine versus the current estimated production based incentive which uses the expected performance based buy-down (EPBB) methodology. The EPBB methodology estimates performance using the turbines power curve, wind speeds at the site and system hub height. The incentive payment will be paid based on actual performance of the turbine.
Who is Eligible for the Innovative Wind Technology Incentive?
To be eligible for IWTI, an applicant must submit an application to the REIP Program, and must be in compliance with all the current requirements of this program. The Wind Alternative Calculation Method (WACM) spreadsheet will no longer be available. The maximum incentive will be calculated based upon the EPBB methodology, however the incentive payments will be paid quarterly for one year based upon actual production of the turbine. In order to calculate the maximum incentive using the EPBB methodology, the application must include a 3rd party certified power curve for the turbine with the application. To record actual production, all projects will install an ANSI C12 revenue grade meter and an anemometer to correlate production to the wind speed data.
To minimize the risk to the applicant, the incentive recipient must be the installer, distributor or manufacturer. The Market Manager will use the manufacturer’s power curves, existing tools and current processes to determine the estimated production of the turbine. If a program inspection is required, the REIP inspectors will include in their protocol verification that the system is installed to manufacturer specifications and the ANSI C12 meter and anemometer is installed and working properly.
The project will be eligible to generate renewable energy credits RECs. To pay the quarterly incentives, the Market Manager will request confirmation on actual production.
The actual incentive paid over the four quarters will not exceed the original approved incentive amount.
This production data will become public information. The NJCEP will institute a wind technical work group made up of interested stakeholders that would do the review of the turbine production and anemometer data.
Incentive Information
The segments eligible for the Innovative Wind Technology Incentive are defined in Table 1 below:
Table 1: IWTI Incentive: Eligible Customer Types
| Customer Type | Eligible Projects |
| Residential | All residential projects less than or equal to net metering limit of the home. The maximum rebate will be based upon 16,000 kWh of annual energy production |
| Non-Residential : Less than or equal to 500 kW | All non-residential projects less than or equal to net metering limit of the meter. This category includes all commercial, public, and non-profit organizations (municipalities, other governments, public colleges and universities, public schools (K-12), and affordable housing organizations). The maximum rebate will be based upon 1,000,000 kWh of annual energy production. |
The rebates will remain the same as the EPBB incentive:
Table 2: IWTI Incentive: Eligible Customer Incentives
| Project Type | Incentive Rate ($/kWh) |
Maximum Annual kWh | Maximum Rebate |
| Residential | $3.20 | 16,000 | $51,200 |
| Non-Residential | $.50/kWh starting at 16,001 kWh + $51,200 | 1,000,000 | $543,000 |