A battery energy storage site has opened in Hunts Point, the Bronx, with developer NineDot Energy marking the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The company describes itself as a developer of community-scale battery energy storage systems across the New York City metropolitan area, and it says this addition sits across the street from a New York City Sanitation Department facility in a neighborhood the company describes as having suffered environmental injustice and disinvestment.
NineDot Energy, which according to the Eagle-Tribune says the Hunts Point project is its largest energy storage site to date, describes itself on its own website as “the leading developer of community-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the New York City metropolitan area,” according to nine.energy. The company says it was founded and is based in New York City, with sites spread across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Westchester County and Long Island.
Per the Eagle-Tribune's reporting on the announcement, the Hunts Point site is an energy storage project. The outlet also reports the site replaces the former home of a fuel-oil trucking company, in an area that reportedly sees more than 100 diesel truck trips pass through each day, and that two high-emission peaker power plants sit nearby.
A Neighborhood Long Burdened by Industrial Traffic
Hunts Point is no stranger to the tension between industrial infrastructure and community health. The peninsula is home to residents alongside the Hunts Point Food Distribution Center, described by the New York City Economic Development Corporation as one of the largest wholesale food distribution centers in the world. That density of industrial activity, paired with residential life, has made the area a focal point for the city's separate resiliency planning efforts.
The city's Hunts Point Energy Resiliency Project, a distinct initiative from NineDot's work, aims to address the vulnerability of critical industrial and community facilities by providing reliable, dispatchable and sustainable power through a combination of energy generation and storage solutions, according to the same Economic Development Corporation project page. That effort includes a planned tri-generation microgrid intended to provide backup power to food-related businesses at the Food Distribution Center.
Roots in Hurricane Sandy
The push for resiliency infrastructure in Hunts Point traces back more than a decade. In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy highlighted the vulnerabilities of New York's waterfront neighborhoods to the growing effects of climate change, per the Economic Development Corporation. The city followed up in 2016 by launching the Hunts Point Resiliency Feasibility Study to better understand the peninsula's risks, analyze options and select a preferred project to advance, the same agency notes.
NineDot's broader project portfolio reflects a similar emphasis on grid reliability. The company's own project descriptions say its battery storage supplies power to communities when demand is highest, with the stated goals of strengthening the grid during peak hours, avoiding or deferring costly utility infrastructure upgrades, and reducing carbon emissions, according to nine.energy's projects page.
A Growing Regional Portfolio
NineDot has been building out its footprint for several years. The company says it completed $431 million in financing with Natixis for 28 battery energy storage projects across New York City.
The company also points to a Tesla Megapack system it identifies as the first of its kind installed in New York City. NineDot describes its work as an effort to bring clean, affordable and resilient energy across all five boroughs.
