Bruce Emmerling/Wikimedia Commons
Con Edison and GI Energy said they installed a 1 MW / 1 MWh battery storage system at a customer site in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. The battery is intended to take stress off the utility’s grid on hot summer days when electrical usage soars.
It is the second lithium-ion battery system the two have placed as part of a demonstration project. The first went into service early last year on Staten Island. An agreement gives Con Edison the right to discharge the batteries to provide power to customers as needed.
Con Edison
Under the demonstration project, GI Energy and Con Edison choose customer locations where the utility’s analysis shows the electrical grid needs support. When Con Edison is not using the energy storage unit for grid support, GI Energy plans to dispatch power into the wholesale market.
The utility said that battery storage will take on greater importance as New York State increases the amount of renewable energy lighting homes and businesses, running vehicles and providing heating and cooling.
Con Edison and a partner, 174 Power Global, also recently announced a 100 MW /400 MWh battery at the site of a former fossil fuel plant near the East River in Astoria, Queens. The company also has a 2 MW storage system in Ozone Park, Queens.
