Ten years into its mission to green New York City’s fossil fuel-dependent power mix, community-scale battery storage developer NineDot Energy is itself a powerhouse, having secured US$65 million in financing from First Citizens Bank.

The money will support NineDot’s purchase of nearly 100 megawatts of batteries, which it plans to deploy in up to 20 battery-storage projects across the Big Apple, the bank and the company wrote in a joint press release.

“For New York to achieve its sustainability goals, we know that battery storage is a critical enabler,” said NineDot co-founder and CEO David Arfin, adding that First Citizens Bank “understands this need and opportunity.”

NineDot expects to meet its goal of 400 megawatts of battery storage in development or operation by the end of 2026, the release states. The company has more than 50 projects at various stages in the NYC area, with more in the pipeline.

News of the recent financing arrangement comes 10 years after the Brooklyn-based company first erupted on to the urban energy scene. Shortly after Climate Week in 2023, Arfin told The Energy Mix the company’s name was inspired by the famous Nine Dot puzzle. Its “think outside the box” solution is “reflective of the way we try to approach solving the urban energy problem,” Arfin said.

Zoning bylaws and land scarcity are just two of the constraints that NineDot must puzzle through—while managing regulations and incentives from three levels of government—to assess “what is scalable, what is safe, and what is bankable.”

All of this “requires a lot of creativity, a lot of patience, some impatience, and some capital,” he added.

Three years ago, NineDot secured US$100 million in community-scale battery installation financing from private equity firm Carlyle, the start-up’s first outside investment, Canary Media reported at the time.