Catalyze Launches Standalone BESS in the Bronx and Expands Renewable Footprint Across US

Aug. 8, 2024
The BESS includes four Tesla MegaPack batteries totaling 4.29 MW/8.58 MWh in capacity and is designed to deliver electricity to the NYC grid and help it manage season demand peaks
Independent power producer and developer Catalyze has launched its first standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) project in the Bronx borough of New York City.
 
The BESS includes four Tesla MegaPack batteries totaling 4.29 MW/8.58 MWh in capacity and is operational after 171 working days of construction time. The Catalyst BESS is designed to deliver electricity to the NYC grid and help it manage season demand peaks.
 
“This project represents Catalyze’s commitment to innovation, further expanding our expertise in BESS technology,” CEO Jared Haines said in a statement. “New York will require a host of renewable energy solutions to meet its ambitious climate goals, and we are proud to continue working with local officials to deploy renewable energy projects across the state.”
The New York State Energy Research and  Development Authority provided incentives for financing the deal. Catalyze recently secured $100 million from the NY Green Bank.
 
The startup and distributed energy resource developer has completed two other statewide projects in Lancaster and Amherst in the past year.
 
Beyond New York, Catalyze also delivered a solar and battery storage system for the new 66 Galen Street office and laboratory complex in Watertown, Massachusetts. The 224,000-square-foot building’s on-site power also supports electric vehicle charging stations with 15 ports.
 
Catalyze owns and operates numerous projects that provide renewable energy to commercial and industrial customers, including Costco, Cathay Bank, Fox Studios, Blackstone, and Forever21. 
 
Earlier this month, the developer announced it was working on a 3.8-MW Sheep Creek Community Solar Farm in Adelanto, California. Southern California Edison is contracting the project to deliver clean energy for residential and commercial accounts with 241 subscribers. 

About the Author

Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.