Today, Con Edison, a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., and its business partner, Centrica Business Solutions, announced they plan to turn an empty lot in Brooklyn into a hub of clean energy innovation. Thus, the investor-owned energy company will install a battery energy storage system and 18 publicly available electric vehicle chargers at the site.
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Worth noting, this project will be the first in New York City that combines energy storage and electric vehicle charging.
About the Project
Particularly, Centrica will design, build, own and operate a 5-megawatt/15-megawatt hour battery system and 18 direct-current fast chargers at the site. Besides, it will charge the batteries with power from Con Edison’s grid during the overnight hours.
Lastly, the company will sell services from the batteries into the wholesale markets as part of its optimized virtual power plant.
Con Edison, on its side, will connect the battery system and chargers to its grid and install transformers and other equipment. According to the company, the storage system will be in place until at least 2035.
Additionally, the storage system, which will be in trailers, will hold 5 million watts; in fact, enough to power about 5,000 apartments for four hours during a summer peak. Lastly, and representing a great advantage, the parties noted that the system will make little noise and emit no pollutants.
Reception and support in Con Edison and Centrica
Accordingly, Tim Cawley, the chief executive of Con Edison, commented in a media release; “This project is unique in that it pairs an energy storage system with electric vehicle chargers; indeed, two technologies that will each play a big role in our clean energy future.”
Besides, “our hub will help make service to our customers in the area more reliable,” added Cawley. Further, the project will “provide drivers with an easily accessible place to charge, and spruce up a vacant lot.”
Similarly, Chris Covell, the head of Centrica Business Solutions North America, said; “Once complete, this will be one of the largest charging hubs anywhere in the city. Also, the only one combined with a battery energy storage system.”
In fact, “this kind of infrastructure project is vital to encourage the switch to electric vehicles,” Covell noted. Moreover, “it will help New York become greener and more resilient for future generations.”
More details
In fact, the partnership between Con Edison and Centrica Business Solutions was possible through the issuance of an award letter to the latter. Currently, Con Edison has approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $62 billion in assets.
Particularly, the utility focuses on delivering electricity, natural gas, and steam to 3.5 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, N.Y. On the other hand, Centrica Business Solutions has clean energy projects in Europe and North America.
Also noteworthy is that the project’s electric vehicle chargers will be part of a Con Edison demonstration project. Thus, the company will publish public updates on the progress of the demonstration project, ultimately sharing findings and conclusions that will help planners make future fast-speed EV charging hubs as efficient as possible.
Finally, and worth noting, Centrica won the contract to build the storage system and install the chargers by responding to a pair of requests for proposals Con Edison issued last year.
