Clean energy solutions provider NineDot Energy estimates to be raising over USD 300m in financing in 2025, said David Arfin, CEO and co-founder of NineDot in an interview with NPM.

The composition of that target, the terms, structures of transactions, and pace, is under evaluation and will depend on various factors like market conditions, perceived appetite and capital needs, that can develop throughout the year.

The company is already in conversations with a number of lenders that would contribute to the total debt of USD 300m, which includes the financing of a greenfield portfolio of community storage and solar projects in New York City that Arfin mentioned during NPM’s DG Development & Finance Forum 2024 on October 24, 2024.

“Our development efforts are concentrated in New York State, specifically in NYC and Westchester County, where we have north of 50 battery energy storage projects at various stages of development, construction and operation, most of which also include a small solar array,” Arfin said, describing that “each interconnection corresponds to a maximum of 5 MW or 20 MWh.”

NineDot has the target to reach 400 MW or 1600 MWh in development, operation or construction by the end of 2026.

In January, the sponsor closed a USD 65m equipment financing in a transaction led by First Citizens Bank to support the purchase of nearly 100 MW / 400 MWh of batteries for use in up to 20 battery storage projects across the New York City metro area, as reported.

The company, founded in 2015, with a home at the NYU Urban Future Lab in Brooklyn, has found fertile terrain in New York, but remains open to opportunities that could arise elsewhere.

“The same way we are technology agnostic, we are also geography agnostic too,” Arfin said. “We have so far focused our efforts in New York because we have found very favorable conditions there, in the form of regulations and policies that support energy storage, from New York’s CLCPA law, to decarbonization goals, to incentives provided by NYSERDA for storage projects, among other benefits.”

Benefits such as financial assistance approved in 2024 by the NYCIDA (New York City Industrial Development Agency) to three companies for battery storage projects in Queens and Staten Island, for a total of four different sites, including NineDot Energy’s 4838 Arthur Kill Road Staten Island, New York 10309.

The Arthur Kill Road project features two 4.9 MW separate battery energy storage systems capable of charging from and discharging into the New York power grid and a solar canopy system connected to each battery system. With a total estimated storage capacity of 9.8 MW / 39.1 MWh, the project would deliver enough energy to power approximately 9,800 New York City households for four hours on a peak summer day.

“We work in close relation with ConEd and the regulators following standards for our batteries,” Arfin mentioned. “We receive the electricity from ConEdison’s grid, charging at night, between midnight and 8.00 AM, when demand is lower. At night it is also when the energy is cleaner, including from renewable sources. The batteries generally discharge the power during the peak demand in the hot summer afternoons when requested to do so by the utility.”

NineDot, backed by The Carlyle Group and more recently by Manulife, is working on its belief that community storage batteries have a crucial role to play in cleaning the grid in NYC and beyond. During peak power days – like the heat waves on July 8, 9 and 15 -17- NineDot Energy’s batteries participated in ConEd’s Dynamic Load Management (DLM) program.

To continue its progress, Arfin wishes for a stable framework.

“We mostly hope for stability in processes, policies, studies, and in the regulatory framework in general, be that at the state or federal level,” he said. “We also plan for federal support in the form of investment tax credits, as many developers do, as policies like these lead to a better, more resilient and cleaner grid that we can build for the future.”

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