SGIP - what is it?

(Self Generation Incentive Program)

Introduction and History: SGIP is an initiative of the sunny California state of USA. The Self Generation Incentive Program encourages distributed generation of power by individuals and businesses under certain conditions. State assembly approved bill no. 970 in September 2000 calling for initiation of new power generation programs. California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) created the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) in March 2001. The CPUC gave extensions  to the program in 2003. In 2006, they extended the program  through year 2011 and modified it. California Solar Initiative (CSI) was launched as a separate program to support solar energy, and the scope of SGIP was restricted to other generation technologies. The focus of the program is on clean and distributed generation to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG). For more details : http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/sgip/ Further, the program encompasses both renewable and nonrenewable energy resources. To ensure incentives are given to distributed generation only, this incentive program doesn't cover generation capacities beyond 3MW. Supported Technologies and Incentives Meanwhile, the program supports the following types of technologies. The available fund for year 2015 is $33.4 million of which 75% is for renewable and emerging technologies and 25% is for the nonrenewable technologies available below. The incentive rates listed below are for projects up to 1 MW, Projects between 1 and 2 MW get 50% of this rate, and those from 2 MW to 3 MW get 25% of these rates. The program doesn't cover projects of higher than 3 MW .

• Renewable, Waste Energy Recovery, and Emerging Technologies:

-   Advanced Energy Storage (AES) $1.46 / Watt -   Biogas $1.46 / Watt -   Fuel cells (electric or combined heat and power)  $1.46 / Watt -   Pressure reduction turbines  $1.07 / Watt -   Waste heat to power $1.07 / Watt -   Wind turbines $1.07 / Watt

• Nonrenewable:

-   Internal combustion engines   $0.46 / Watt -   Microturbines  $0.46 / Watt -   Gas turbines (all combined heat and power technologies)  $0.46 / Watt   Most importantly, SGIP does NOT cover solar generation because a separate program by the state (California Solar Initiative) is available to support it. For an update on SGIP watch this :