Peace Bridge Place Installs 3.75-Megawatt-Hour Indoor Lithium-Ion Battery System in Buffalo
A 105-unit affordable housing building in Buffalo, New York, has integrated a 3.75-megawatt-hour Viridi energy storage system, marking what Good Carbon Co. says may be the biggest indoor lithium-ion battery installed so far in an occupied U.S. apartment building.
Apartment residents typically lack the ability to install personal energy resilience equipment. The Peace Bridge Place project addresses that limitation by incorporating backup power infrastructure directly into the residential property.
Rooms Filled With Lithium-Ion Batteries Keep All-Electric Building Powered During Outages
The batteries span seven separate rooms within the building and are engineered to maintain a steady flow of electricity to the all-electric property when external power fails, as reported by Solar Power World. Beyond emergency backup, the Viridi RPSLinkIN system operates during peak-demand windows to curtail electricity usage.
This dual functionality lowers operational costs for the 105-unit building while reducing strain on the local electrical grid in Buffalo. The battery installation was part of a broader retrofit led by Good Carbon Co. that also introduced geothermal HVAC, domestic hot water improvements, and building-envelope upgrades.
New York State Agencies and National Grid Partner on Distributed Energy Pilot
Financial and technical backing for the project originates from the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency through its Future Grid Challenge. Peace Bridge Place also participates in a National Grid pilot program to test responsive, grid-connected technology.
To coordinate with National Grid during peak demand events, the Viridi storage array runs on EnergyHub’s Edge Distributed Energy Resource Management System, known as DERMS. Good Carbon Co. Chief Executive Officer Adam Serbert explained the financial necessity of the setup in a public statement.
Energy is one of the biggest operating costs in multifamily housing, and how you manage it directly affects the long-term performance of a property,
Serbert said, as reported by Yahoo. At Peace Bridge Place, Viridi’s battery and energy management technology will help us reduce peak demand, avoid higher-cost periods and participate in demand response programs.
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