New Con Edison Battery System Is the Largest in New York City
Project Will Mean More Reliability for Staten Island Customers and Support the Transition to Clean, Renewable Energy
Con Edison will place the largest battery system in New York City into service, increasing reliability in northeastern Staten Island just in time for the summer heat season, the company’s president said this morning.
The system, which is at a substation in the Fox Hills area, can hold 7.5 megawatts – that’s 7.5 million watts - and discharge that electricity to customers for four hours. That will take stress off Con Edison’s electric delivery system in the area when the demand for power is high, which occurs in the late afternoon and evening hours during the summer.
“We are deploying batteries to help maintain the industry-leading reliable electric service that our region needs, and our customers deserve,” said Matthew Ketschke, Con Edison’s president. “The advent of large-scale energy storage technology also greatly increases our opportunities to integrate clean, renewable power into the mix and transition to a low-carbon future.”
Ketschke spoke about the project this morning during a panel discussion at the Solar and Storage Summit at John Jay College in Manhattan. The annual event draws hundreds of clean energy professionals from the public and private sectors.
Battery storage complements renewable power from wind turbines and solar panels. Batteries can store power that renewable resources generate but that customers do not need immediately. Batteries can discharge that power when the demand for power exceeds the production of the intermittent renewable generators.
New York City and State are counting on battery technology to help them meet their environmental goals and help stymie climate change. The state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act sets a goal of 70 percent of the state’s power coming from renewable sources by 2030 and recognizes the need to use energy storage to balance the intermittency of renewable generation.
Con Edison will charge the battery system at night when the demand for power is not highest and electricity is less expensive.
The system, which is rated at 7-megawatts/30-megawatt hours, will hold enough electricity to charge 1.5 million cellphones.
In addition to using the system to support reliability, Con Edison will sell services from the system into the state’s wholesale energy market, generating revenue that will benefit customers.
Con Edison’s internal resources supported the installation, engineering and procurement of the entire system. The company will use lessons learned from this experience as it installs additional battery systems.
Placing the system on utility property saved the company from having to obtain additional land at a cost to customers. It also minimizes neighborhood inconvenience that might occur with an installation on property that is not currently used for utility purposes.
This system includes 11 Tesla Megapacks. Each megapack is a container that houses 19 battery modules, each with its own inverter. The system underwent a rigorous safety review by the Fire Department of New York.
To make full use of the property and to be consistent with its dedication to the environment, Con Edison is conducting a biodiversity project. The company has a biodiversity strategic action plan and has started rewilding initiatives at its Eastview Service Center and Rye Service Center.
The company will seed an area of land that was torn up from the storage project. The company will create native habitat with milkweed and other plant life to attract monarch butterflies, pollinators and provide stormwater capture.
Con Edison already has a battery system in the Ozone Park section of Queens. That system serves as a backup to an existing distribution feeder and has been in operation since 2019. It can hold 2 megawatts and discharge 10 megawatt hours of power.
In addition, the company and a business partner placed three smaller systems at customer properties on the North Shore of Staten Island, in Woodside, Queens and on City Island. The customers receive lease payments.
Con Edison is planning a microgrid at a substation on Cedar Street in New Rochelle that will include a 4-megawatt/12-megawatt hour storage system. The project will include direct-current fast chargers outside the substation for electric vehicles.
Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. [NYSE: ED], one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $16 billion in annual revenues and $63 billion in assets. The utility delivers electricity, natural gas and steam, and serves 3.6 million customers in New York City and Westchester County. For financial, operations and customer service information, visit conEd.com.