The City of Bridgeport Selects Cadenza Innovation for Battery Energy Storage System Pilot Project


Purpose-built, Safe, Modular Lithium-ion BESS to be Installed Inside the City’s Fire Department Headquarters and Serve as a Model for Delivering Low-cost Energy in Urban Environments

Connecticut Innovations-sponsored Demonstration Project to Help Advance the State of Connecticut’s Clean Energy Objectives

BRIDGEPORT, Conn., Oct. 31, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The City of Bridgeport today announced that it has selected Cadenza Innovation’s modular, high-safety, lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery energy storage system (BESS) technology for a pilot project to be deployed inside the City’s Fire Department headquarters.

Believed to be one of the country’s first BESS deployments inside a fire station and the first public demonstration of Cadenza Innovation’s battery technology in Connecticut, the indoor BESS will showcase Bridgeport’s ability to lower energy costs while addressing and managing the energy challenges of its underserved communities. The pilot project – funded by Connecticut Innovations – will help further the State of Connecticut’s renewable energy goals, including Governor Ned Lamont’s climate change and energy legislation package that targets achieving 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2040.

Purpose-built for safety-intensive urban deployments, Cadenza Innovation’s low voltage, indoor, cloud-connected BESS will enable Bridgeport – Connecticut’s most populous municipality – to achieve energy savings and reduce its carbon footprint. Cadenza Innovation and the City will collaborate to measure and analyze energy use inside the Fire Department headquarters, and monitor the BESS to generate a report that delivers the peak-shaving efficiencies, arbitrage capabilities and back-up power in the event of a grid outage.

“This is more than just resilience, it’s continuing Bridgeport’s leading position when it comes to sustainable energy generation and now storage,” said Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim. “We look forward to attracting other green technology to our City, by way of implementation and manufacturing.”

Additionally, Bridgeport is interested in demonstrating Cadenza Innovation’s technology for potentially installing the BESS across its portfolio of City-owned and -operated buildings. With a successful pilot demonstration, Cadenza Innovation will look to establish a framework agreement with Bridgeport for deploying multiple BESSs within municipality buildings, focusing on serving low-moderate income communities. Importantly, the project will also allow Bridgeport to bring awareness, educational and, potentially, career opportunities to the City.

Offering a pathway to immediate deployment, Cadenza Innovation accelerates the energy transition in urban and utility-scale installations with flexible, modular and compact distributed BESSs that can be placed throughout densely populated environments – both indoors and outdoors. The cornerstone of the company’s world-leading safety lies in the simplicity of its hardware and software design. This novel architecture enables rapid and flexible installation across a wide range of power and energy demands.

Anticipating customers’ increasing requirements for energy resiliency and back-up power, Cadenza Innovation’s battery systems feature built-in modularity for scalable systems. Additionally, the Cadenza Cloud capitalizes on real-time data to drive energy efficiency and cost savings while actively managing demand response, peak-shaving, load-shifting and time-of-use actions tailored to urban energy storage systems. Notably, Cadenza Innovation’s low voltage BESSs are now listed on the Connecticut Energy Storage Solutions website, a new energy storage program designed to help homeowners, businesses and municipalities participate in building electricity resiliency while reducing the cost.

“As the Fire Chief of Bridgeport, I’m committed to the safety and well-being of our community,” said Bridgeport Fire Chief Lance Edwards. “We’re partnering with Cadenza, a clean energy company, to install a modular lithium storage battery to showcase its safety and potential to reduce electricity consumption. We believe in innovation that benefits our citizens and the environment, and we’re proud to be at the forefront of sustainable energy solutions.”

“Bridgeport has a long history of pioneering innovation in the energy sector. The Cadenza Innovation team is thrilled to be chosen for this project to bolster the City’s reputation as an energy resilience hub and augment the State’s standing as a climate change leader,” said Cadenza Innovation Founder and CEO Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud. “With support from the City, Fire Department and Connecticut Innovations, we will demonstrate ‘the power’ and safety of an indoor modular system installed in an urban setting. And through collaboration with Bridgeport Labs, we look forward to helping establish an important pathway for clean workforce development – in particular, a re-entry program targeting veterans and other critically underserved groups.”

About the City of Bridgeport
The City of Bridgeport is Connecticut’s largest city, located in Fairfield County. Also known as the “Park City,” Bridgeport’s rich cultural heritage relies heavily on the extensive amount of land dedicated to its 52 parks throughout the city. Bridgeport is also well known for being the hometown of American showman, entrepreneur, and politician, P.T. Barnum, who was the founder of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. In a modern revitalization, Bridgeport has become the arts and entertainment capital of Connecticut. For more information, please visit www.bridgeportct.gov.

About Bridgeport Labs, Inc.
Bridgeport Labs, Inc. is a premier minority non-profit enterprise, organized as an economic development corporation promoting Bridgeport industry, clean energy technology, workforce development, STEM education, public health and sustainability. For more information, please visit www.bridgeportlabs.org.

About Cadenza Innovation, Inc.
Cadenza Innovation is transforming energy storage for grid, EV, commercial and industrial (C&I) and urban battery deployments. Certified to meet the world’s most stringent fire safety regulations and lithium chemistry agnostic, the company’s patented, award-winning, modular battery architecture eliminates the thermal propagation causing fires and explosions in legacy Li-ion-based energy storage systems while delivering high performance at lower costs. Founded in 2012 by battery experts with more than 125 patents, the leadership team has held key roles at lithium-ion battery cell, pack and system provider Boston-Power, investment firm Bridgewater Associates, consulting firm Arthur D. Little and other globally respected organizations. Cadenza Innovation is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Golden Seeds, the states of Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts, Rockwell Automation and private investors. The company’s corporate headquarters and advanced technology development labs are based in Connecticut. For more information, visit www.cadenzainnovation.com.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

For More Information:
Communications@bridgeportct.gov

Bryan Grillo
Cricket PR for Cadenza Innovation
bryan@chrisbryanpr.com