Major energy storage project approved in USA

Public Service Commission's (PSC) has given its approval for a major energy storage project proposed for New York City. On October 17, 2019, the PSC granted a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for 316 megawatt battery energy storage project at the Ravenswood Generating Station in Long Island City proposed by LS Power.

Additionally, the Ravenswood storage project was accepted in the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) 2019 interconnection facility study process and is therefore well positioned to be able to meet a 2022 in-service requirement.

As noted by the U.S. Energy Information Agency in July 2019, utility-scale battery energy storage capacity in the U.S. has more than quadrupled from the end of 2014 (214 MW) through March 2019 (899 MW). LS Power currently has a series of projects ranging from 40 MW to 250 MW in California, both operating and under construction/development.

When fully constructed, the Ravenswood battery energy storage project will represent over 10% of the state's storage goal of 3,000 megawatts by 2030 and mark New York as one of the nation's leaders in large-scale battery storage.

In July 2019, Con Edison issued Request For Proposals for 300 megawatts of battery energy storage following an order from the PSC, with a requirement to be operational by December 31, 2022. Battery energy storage will be increasingly important for New York as it advances toward its Clean Energy Standard, which mandates that, by 2030, seventy percent of New York's electricity is to come from renewable energy sources.

The New York City Mayor's Office of Sustainability also voiced its support for the Ravenswood Storage Project, noting in accompanying documents to the project's July 2019 CPCN petition that its benefits included ensuring reliability, replacing old fossil fuel peaker units, enhancing resiliency, and achieving public policy goals.