O&R Commissions New Battery Storage Project In Rockland

POMONA, NY — Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. and Key Capture Energy recently commissioned O&R’s new battery storage project in Rockland County, marking a significant milestone in the growth of the clean energy industry in the Hudson Valley.

"This battery storage project is the first of its kind in our service area and represents a significant, positive, innovative achievement in O&R’s tireless efforts to provide cleaner, more sustainable, local power while minimizing its costs to our customers," said O&R President and CEO Robert Sanchez.

The project will allow O&R to delay building costly new infrastructure that is only needed to accommodate energy use at its peak.

It is part of O&R’s Pomona Non-Wires Alternative Project, a program designed to help O&R maintain reliable service for customers. The program stems from O&R’s concerted effort to reduce costs to customers and incorporate new technologies to maintain efficient, resilient, reliable and sustainable electric operations.

KCE was selected by O&R to plan, design, install and operate O&R’s new battery storage project in Rockland County. KCE selected as its subcontractor Powin, a global leader in the design and manufacture of safe and scalable battery storage solutions, to provide the fully integrated battery energy storage system including cells, enclosures, cabling, transformers, inverters, and all software and controls systems, O&R officials said.

The 3MW-battery is owned by O&R and was built on O&R property adjacent to O&R’s Ladentown electric substation in Pomona. KCE will provide operations and maintenance support for the battery over the next five years. The battery resembles five tractor-trailer-sized units, lined up, side-by-side.

The cost of the project is $7.4 million.

"The battery project opens the door to a brighter, cleaner, more sustainable energy future for our customers," Sanchez said.

The new battery project will connect to the O&R system through O&R’s overhead distribution lines.

The project will allow O&R to delay building costly new infrastructure that’s designed to accommodate energy use at its peak. In addition, as wholesale and retail energy markets develop and mature, these batteries will be able to sell power into those markets to earn additional revenue, further reducing the cost of the overall battery deployment.

New energy products and services, such as O&R’s battery storage project, provide the region with environmental benefits, while also creating economic opportunity, O&R officials said.

It supports New York State’s initiative to install 3,000 megawatts of energy storage throughout the state by 2030. Under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act passed in 2018, New York State is mandated to achieve 70 percent renewable energy by 2030 and 100 percent zero-emission electricity by 2040.