First BTM li-ion battery project approved in New York City

Dive Brief:

Demand Energy, a subsidiary of Enel Green Power North America, has begun construction on a microgrid with storage capability in New York City.
The microgrid will comprise a 400-kW solar system and 400-kW fuel cell supported by a 300-kW, 1.2-MWh lithium-ion battery at Marcus Garvey Village, a mixed-income apartment complex owned by L+M Development Partners.
The Marcus Garvey project marks the first lithium-ion battery approved for behind-the-meter use in a multi-family residential building in New York City, where concerns over fires had prevented deployment.

Dive Insight:

Fire safety issues have slowed the deployment of energy storage in New York City despite the fact that the city is one of only a handful that has an energy storage mandate.

Since the city announced the 100 MWh-by-2020 target last September, there have only been 4.8 MWh of storage installed.

One of the main barriers has been a of welter agencies and approvals required to place a lithium-ion battery in a building, particularly the guidelines of the Fire Department of New York City, which are among the most stringent in the nation.

In addition to being the first approval for a BTM li-ion battery in a New York City residential building, The Marcus Garvey microgrid project also the first renewable energy-plus storage microgrid in an affordable housing development and the first microgrid deployed under Consolidated Edison’s Brooklyn-Queens Demand Management program.

The system, which is expected to take 30 days to build, is designed to reduce the property’s power consumption by managing the generation and storage of renewable energy to save money through demand charge reductions.

“We’ve worked closely with the Fire Department and Department of Buildings in New York City to earn their approvals and achieve this milestone in storage deployment,” Gregg Patterson, president and CEO of Demand Energy, said in a statement.