Local utility Con Edison has installed a 1-MW lithium-ion battery in the Bronx to improve reliability along the City Island business strip.

“Battery technology can help us accomplish several goals on behalf of our customers,” said Santee Hernandez, Con Edison project manager. “Power discharged from a battery when our customers need it the most means less demand on our electric-delivery equipment. And deploying batteries is another way we are leading the transition to a clean energy future.”

It is the second lithium-ion battery system Con Edison and its partner GI Energy have placed at a customer property in New York City under a demonstration project. The first went into service early last year on the North Shore of Staten Island. An agreement guarantees Con Edison the right to discharge the batteries to provide power to its customers as needed.

Under the demonstration project, GI Energy and Con Edison are able to choose customer locations where Con Edison’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 from the system into the wholesale market.

The project underwent an extensive safety review by the Fire Department of New York and the city Department of Buildings.

Con Edison and a partner, 174 Power Global, 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.

News item from Con Edison