NineDot Energy – a leading developer of community-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the New York City metropolitan area – announced recently that it secured an additional $225 million equity capital commitment from Manulife Investment Management and Carlyle, NineDot’s existing institutional equity investor. Manulife Investment Management led the round with a $135 million commitment and acquired an equity interest concurrently.
This new equity funding is expected to enable NineDot to advance its substantial project pipeline in the New York City area and expand geographically and potentially through acquisitions. And when combined with existing project financings from CIT, SMBC, and NY Green Bank, a division of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and others, NineDot has now secured a capital base of approximately $400 million.
NineDot’s New York City battery storage projects support New York Governor Hochul’s nation-leading plan for 6,000 megawatts of energy storage capacity in New York State by 2030, on the path to 100% zero-emission electricity for the state by 2040. And battery storage is a critical part of New York’s sustainable energy infrastructure, enabling more renewable energy on the grid, accelerating the retirement of the dirtiest “peaker” plants, and making the grid more stable and resilient.
NineDot is on track to achieve its goal of having 400 megawatts of battery storage capacity in development by the end of 2026 while also adhering to the most stringent safety requirements for any jurisdiction in the United States as specified by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). And NineDot’s initial battery storage site, located in the Pelham Gardens neighborhood of the Northeast Bronx, became operational last summer – a first-of-its-kind community-scale battery storage system in NYC, designed to provide power and resilience to the local grid at peak demand.
NineDot also has approximately 30 projects under construction across the New York metro area, with many more in development. And a typical NineDot Energy 5-megawatt project was designed to power 5,000 New York City households for four hours on a peak summer day. From a decarbonization perspective – using the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) emissions methodology – if a NineDot site were operating in 2022, it would be estimated to have reduced local greenhouse gas emissions by 420 tons of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent).
As part of this deal, Christopher McKenzie, a Managing Director on Manulife Investment Management’s Infrastructure team, will join NineDot’s Board of Directors.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are honored and excited to have Manulife Investment Management as a NineDot equity investor and partner. From our first meeting it was clear that Manulife IM understood the importance of battery storage in modernizing the urban electric grid, making it cleaner, more resilient, more equitable, and less costly. Having Manulife Investment Management and Carlyle – two of the world’s leading infrastructure investors – in our corner will truly energize NineDot’s future.”
— David Arfin, NineDot Energy CEO and co-founder
“We have been believers in community-scale battery storage for a long time and are pleased to form a long-term equity partnership with NineDot Energy. We view NineDot as the leading BESS developer in a complex but attractive market. We look forward to supporting the team at NineDot as it executes on its growth pipeline in New York and scales its business.”
— Recep Kendircioglu, Global Head of Infrastructure, Manulife Investment Management
“When we first backed NineDot in 2021, we recognized they had a unique strategy to support New York’s energy transition. Over the past two years we’ve worked closely with them as they’ve experienced tremendous success building out their platform and project pipeline. We look forward to partnering with Manulife Investment Management, providing further support to the NineDot team as they pursue their ambitious goals.”
— Pooja Goyal, Chief Investment Officer of Carlyle’s Infrastructure Group
