An energy dispersive x‐ray absorption spectroscopy instrument has been built at the X6A beam port of the x‐ray ring at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS). This instrument allows the collection of extended x‐ray‐absorption fine structure and/or x‐ray absorption near‐edge structure spectra for many elements on the millisecond time scale. The beamline employs a four‐point crystal bender and a rectangular Si 220 crystal to access incident energies between 6.5 and 21 keV. Because the polychromator focuses the synchrotron beam to a narrow 100‐&mgr;m line, this experimental apparatus is ideal for x‐ray absorption spectroscopy experiments in special environments such as at high pressures, forinsituexperiments, and/or for very small samples. In this manuscript we will describe the instrument design and present data with which to evaluate the instrument. This beamline is available through the NSLS user proposal system.