Chapter 1: Introduction
This handbook serves as a practical reference guide for electric utilities that are navigating significant phases of a battery energy storage project’s life cycle. As utility demand for battery energy storage systems (BESS) expands, utilities can improve safety, manage project and financial risk, and potentially reduce costs by leveraging the knowledge and leading practices gleaned from projects across the industry and described in this report.
Battery energy storage is poised to fundamentally reshape the electric power industry. Led by lithium ion battery technology, energy storage capacity additions to electric power systems are growing rapidly across the globe. Although many aspects of a battery energy storage project are similar to analogous phases in conventional utility asset planning, deployment, and operation, battery energy storage has unique characteristics that utilities must consider for these projects. Additionally, BESS projects often require involvement and close coordination between utility stakeholder groups who may not have had previous experience in working together; such coordination may not be necessary for other infrastructure projects. The successful outcome of a BESS project relies on early identification and implementation of stakeholder roles and their coordination.
This handbook explores the various processes, roles and responsibilities utility departments have in pursuing a battery energy storage project through its life cycle, beginning from the initial planning phase, through procurement and system deployment to facility operations and maintenance, and finally, to the decommissioning phase. Each chapter provides utilities a roadmap for each phase of a project, providing a beginning-to-end guide for a BESS project.