The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Blueprint Power, a New York City-based technology company, announced a $3 million award for a first-of-its-kind demonstration project showcasing energy management technology that could not only enable buildings to provide grid flexibility, but also help expand electric vehicle (EV) capacity in New York City.
“NYSERDA is pleased to support this exciting project, which seeks to demonstrate the cost-effective and efficient integration of distributed energy resources into the grid with a focus on supporting increased electrification and EV use,” said Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO, NYSERDA. “Encouraging EV adoption and electrification in the State’s building stock are critical components of New York’s emissions reduction strategy as we work to advance Governor Cuomo’s nation-leading goal of reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent by 2050.”
The Blueprint for LeFrak City project, located at a residential development in Corona, Queens, aims to demonstrate that by combining Blueprint’s coordinated management of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar, batteries, flexible loads and electric vehicle chargers with its demand responsiveness to load needs — the net burden on the grid can be reduced at peak times.
The project will further work to demonstrate that the same amount of EV charging can be done with less infrastructure, reducing utility upgrade costs that can be a barrier to the installation of charging infrastructure.
“The infrastructure required to ready a site for EV charging is a significant cost driver and frequent roadblock for anyone who wants to offer EV charging on their property,” said Robyn Beavers, co-founder and CEO, Blueprint Power. “Blueprint is thrilled to demonstrate how the software platform we built to decarbonize buildings in a financially attractive way can simultaneously deliver cost-effective decarbonization of our city’s transportation fleets.”
The demonstration project, funded through NYSERDA’s High Performing Grid program, seeks to show how networked buildings, onsite clean energy technologies and EV charging can help decarbonize buildings and transportation in New York City, while collecting data to analyze LeFrak City’s building loads to optimize solar, storage and EV charger installations. Blueprint has a target to install 150 EV chargers by 2025.
The Blueprint network will use automation and machine learning to secure a reliable flow of energy and data to and from existing infrastructure, export any excess energy not consumed by the building loads to the utility, and ultimately decarbonize the built environment. The network optimizes solar energy, storage and charger use with the building loads to reduce utility bills while creating new revenue streams with demand response programs and energy exports for the asset owner.
Benefits that Blueprint Power seeks to provide through this project include:
- Increased percentage of energy from renewables in the state through the installation of more on-site clean DERs
- Promotion of EVs through decreased EV charger installation costs via reduced scope for utility-driven site upgrades and reduced EV operating costs
- Reduced strain on the local grid through Blueprint system coordination and optimization of DERs
NYSERDA administers the High Performing Grid Program, which seeks proposals from electric grid technology companies, New York's utilities, universities, and researchers, to advance smart grid technologies that promote the development of a high performing, smart electric grid that integrates a diverse supply of renewable energy resources, enhances overall grid performance, and enables customers to reduce their energy costs, consumption, and environmental impacts.
