New York state needs to install more than 3GW of energy storage in the next seven years to meet its climate goals. These call for 70% of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy.
The New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has said energy storage is “essential for creating a cleaner, more efficient, and resilient electric grid.” It means many more battery energy storage systems (BESS) will have to be built throughout the state.
Data published by NYSERDA showed there were 4,657 energy storage projects in New York state as of 31 August, with a total capacity of 3234MW. A spokesperson for NYSERDA told the silive.com website the vast majority of the sites outside New York City are residential back-up battery systems installed by homeowners.
NYC houses 58 energy storage sites, most of them commercial facilities. Staten Island currently stores most of the city’s energy – 8.7MW over six projects.
A 650MW eight-acre BESS due to be built on Victory Boulevard in Travis will drastically increase the borough’s capacity, according to NYSERDA.
The spokesperson added: “Only 60 of the 4,657 operating projects are larger-scale commercial storage facilities over 1MW in size. As the state works toward achieving its nation-leading climate goals, we expect more large-scale deployment, but anticipate the majority of battery systems deployed will continue to be in the residential sector. However, we cannot predict the exact composition of projects that will be installed over the next seven years.”
The BESS projects have caused controversy among neighbouring householders.
