Community solar owner-operator Summit Ridge has secured US$15 million in project financing for two battery energy storage system (BESS) projects totalling 31MWh in New York City, US.

The proceeds will fund the construction of two lithium-ion BESS projects in Staten Island, New York City, Summit Ridge’s first energy storage projects and ‘the first of many’, the company said. It expects to have a storage portfolio of 100MWh by next year.

Fundamental Renewables, formerly MMA Energy Capital, is providing the financing through two loans which bring its total financing to Summit Ridge to US$765 million to-date.

The two systems will have a combined capacity of 31MWh though the press release does not specify the power. But it is likely to be under 10MW, as the two projects have been awarded a block incentive through the NYSERDA Retail Energy Storage Incentive Program, which provides funding for commercial customers installing stationary energy storage systems of under 5MW.

Energy-Storage.news has approach Fundamental and Summit Ridge for more details and will update this story in due course.

The BESS projects will also operate under New York’s Value of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) tariff, which is the state’s mechanism to compensate energy generated by DER resources including solar and storage.

Brian Dunn, COO of Summit Ridge, said: “The battery storage space is an exciting new frontier in the renewable energy sector and an important part of that transition. We look forward to leveraging our expertise as we continue acquiring and developing a network of community solar and battery storage facilities across the country.”

Fundamental Renewables is the renewable and clean energy investment arm of Fundamental Advisors LP. It was acquired by Fundamental Advisors in August 2021 and provided a $500 million loan to Pine Gate Renewables, a developer that has recently shown a significant interest in non-lithium battery technologies, in January this year.