Renewables investment and development group Nala Renewables is developing four new battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in New York state totalling 280MW by mid-2024.

Nala is delivering the projects through a development services agreement with New York-based power and infrastructure developer Rhynland Energy. The sites in New York ISO Zone K (Long Island) have been procured and the interconnection and entitlement work has started.

“Rhynland Energy is very pleased to be working with Nala Renewables, which is owned by two world-class energy investors, on BESS projects that will help provide much needed dispatchable capacity on Long Island and will support the development of renewable resources in New York State,” said Gus Hadidi, Managing Director, Rhynland Energy.

The state recently doubled its energy storage deployment target by 2030, from 3GW to 6GW, when it aims to generate 70% of its electricity from renewable sources. Nala’s projects, if delivered at that power, will provide just under 5% of that 6GW figure.

The target will be reached by enabling market reforms and procurement mechanisms that capture the full benefits of energy storage, according to New York State of the State Address book issued when the new target was announced in January.

One scheme which is incentivising large, front-of-meter energy storage is the Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) programme, or Value Stack. It rewards projects that can deliver energy to the grid when most needed by paying them an hourly aggregate rate.

Nala is a joint venture between commodity trader Trafigura and IFM Investors and recently made headlines for delivering what will be the largest BESS in Belgium when it opens later this year.

Rhynland Energy was founded in 2019 and, according to its entry on the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST) trade association’s site, is a 50% partner in a 45MW/135MWh storage system project in Ontario, Canada.