NineDot Energy
Bronx County
Community-Scale Battery Storage: NineDot Energy Takes the Lead on a Compact Clean Energy Solution in the Bronx
An innovative battery energy storage installation supported by NYSERDA brings grid benefits and decarbonization into a crowded urban area.
NineDot’s first battery project on a very small plot of land in the northeast Bronx went live in 2023.
Source: NineDot Energy.
Snapshot
The Project
Active site: 7,000 square feet (1/6 of an acre)
Battery storage: Four Tesla megapacks, 12 megawatt-hours (MWh)
Power supplied to the grid: 3 megawatts (MW-ac)
The Team
NineDot Energy: A leading developer of community-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the New York City metropolitan area
Partners and Collaborators
Con Edison - New York City/ Westchester utility that provided grid access
Endurant Energy - Contractor responsible for designing and building the project
Stem Energy - Provided AI-driven solutions and services
Tesla - Manufactured the MegaPack battery units
Urban Future Lab - Climate tech incubator--based at NYU and partially funded by NYSERDA--that provided space and a network for NineDot
Incentives, Loans, Private Investment:
- Federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) investment tax credit
- NYSERDA retail energy storage incentive
- NY Green Bank
- Carlyle, a global investment firm
Battery Energy Storage Systems: Solutions for the Clean Energy Economy
As New York State’s clean energy economy develops, energy storage has a pivotal role. The State’s 2019 Climate Act established a target of 3,000 MW of energy storage by 2030, and this target was later expanded to 6,000 MW by 2030.
Integrating battery energy storage systems (BESS) into the electric grid -- especially in areas with high energy demand -- will enable clean energy from renewable sources like solar, wind, and hydropower to be stored and then made available when and where it is needed most.
In addition to enabling more renewable energy on the grid, BESS provide additional benefits:
- They make the grid more resilient and can help reduce brown-outs and black-outs.
- They reduce carbon emissions and improve environmental equity by reducing the need to use the dirtiest “peaker” power plants. (Peakers use fossil fuels such as natural gas and fuel oils; emit carbon dioxide, methane, and other pollutants; run during periods of high energy demand; and are generally located in historically marginalized and underrepresented communities).
Batteries charge with electricity from the electric grid overnight (a time of low demand) and then discharge that electricity to the grid at times of peak demand.
How Energy Storage Works
Midnight to 8 a.m.: To be ready for the next day, batteries charge overnight when the grid has excess/cleaner energy.
8 a.m. to 4 p.m.: The batteries hold their charge until the utility "calls" for help during times of peak demand.
4 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Especially on hot summer days, the batteries discharge their energy to the grid to meet customer needs.
8 p.m. to Midnight: The batteries stay discharged until they charge up again between midnight and 8 a.m.
A Company with Innovative Urban Energy Solutions
NineDot Energy is a leading developer of community-scale BESS in the New York City metropolitan area. Founded as a New York-based company and located at the NYU Urban Future Lab, NineDot creates innovative urban energy solutions. They currently have BESS sites in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island as well as Westchester County and Long Island.
Project: Bronx
NineDot Energy developed this battery site in the Bronx. The company broke ground in 2021, unveiled the site with a ribbon cutting in 2022, and went live in 2023.
The site includes the first operating Tesla Megapack installation in New York City, the first remote-crediting battery storage host site, and the first high-tension distributed energy resource interconnection in New York City.
The 3-megawatt project creates a model that can be replicated at similar sites around the New York City metro region.
Aerial view of the vacant Bronx site, pre-development.
The Bronx BESS site.
Mural created by Bronx Charter School for Better Learning that fronts the Bronx BESS site.
“This project is special because it combines multiple technologies that will contribute to a clean energy future and make our region a leader in the fight against climate change. The ability of companies like NineDot to innovate, along with the commitment of Con Edison, our customers and other parties, will ensure that our State and City meet their environmental goals.”
— Vicki Kuo, Senior Vice President, Customer Energy Solutions, Con Edison
Safety Standards
NineDot ensures its sites are built to the highest safety standards. Sites are monitored 24/7 and equipped with comprehensive risk mitigation systems that include gas detection, smoke and automatic fire detection, fire suppression, and exhaust ventilation to control potential fires. Its systems are designed to meet or exceed the risk mitigation standards approved by the Fire Department of New York (FDNY).
This site in the Bronx was selected by the FDNY as the standard for training its personnel on battery fire safety systems and potential responses, ensuring that the FDNY is specially trained to handle emergencies at NineDot's battery system facilities.
Funding
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) allowed standalone energy storage projects to receive the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for the first time. This policy change created new opportunities for standalone systems to provide essential services to the grid.
Projects like these benefit from the Value of Distributed Resources (VDER), New York’s innovative compensation mechanism for distributed resources. Additionally, NYSERDA’s retail energy storage incentive program provided $1.2 million.
These types of collaborative projects strengthen New York City’s grid and enable progress toward the State's target of 6GW of storage deployment by 2030.