The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority has awarded contracts to 8 utility-scale battery-storage projects totaling 950 MW / 4,240 MWh, a lithium-ion buy that more than doubles the state's operating utility-scale storage fleet and marks the first bulk procurement under New York's 6 GW-by-2030 Energy Storage Roadmap.
Who Won What
NYSERDA sifted 46 bids representing roughly 6 GW of proposed capacity before landing on eight projects across four load zones:
- Lighthouse Energy Storage (Chautauqua County, 250 MW/1,000 MWh) — GCI/Neoen
- Zenobē Burns (Allegany County, 100 MW/400 MWh) — Zenobē
- Eastwater Energy Storage (Monroe County, 100 MW/400 MWh) — GCI
- KCE NY 5 (Ulster County, 94 MW/376 MWh) — Key Capture Energy
- Blue Spruce Storage (Bronx, 133 MW/532 MWh) — Flatiron Energy
- Palladium Storage (Bronx, 123 MW/492 MWh) — Flatiron Energy
- Holtsville Energy Storage (Suffolk, 110 MW/440 MWh) — Savion (a Shell company)
- KCE NY 37 (Suffolk, 150 MW/600 MWh) — Key Capture Energy
Every awarded project uses 4-to-8-hour lithium-ion durations, and NYSERDA paired the storage awards with 13 large-scale renewable contracts (719 MW), bringing the September round to a combined 1.7 GW of clean-capacity procurement worth roughly $3.7 billion in private investment.
Why Bronx And Long Island Dominate
Five of the eight projects sit in Zones J and K — New York City and Long Island — the load pockets that most need capacity as the state retires downstate peaker plants. Flatiron's twin Bronx projects (Blue Spruce and Palladium) alone will add 256 MW/1,024 MWh of indoor battery capacity in the city, echoing its 1.2 GWh Boston project pattern of dense-urban BESS. Key Capture's Long Island duo will help New York's grid operator manage evening peaks after summer solar drops off.
Payment On Delivery
All eight contracts are structured as index storage credits — NYSERDA only pays once each system reaches commercial operation, an approach designed to protect ratepayers from the kind of delays that have dogged large storage integrator ramps this year. "New York just took a major step toward the affordable, reliable grid our state needs," said William Acker, executive director of NY-BEST.
Fits Into Roadmap
Governor Kathy Hochul's revised Energy Storage Roadmap calls for 6 GW of storage by 2030. Today's award closes about 15% of the remaining gap and joins momentum elsewhere — from Jupiter Power's $1.4 B debt package for Texas and Michigan sites to Nova Scotia's 600 MWh fleet — as North American BESS procurement enters a bulk-purchasing phase.
Reporting based on coverage from Energy-Storage.News, mGrid, Solar Power World and NYSERDA.