U.S. Interstate Renewable Energy Commission (IREC) releases toolkit to address grid-connecting challenges for energy storage systems

　　Although numerous data show that energy storage systems in the United States and around the world, such as pumped hydro storage, lithium battery energy storage, liquid energy storage, etc., continue to create records in the number of construction it is difficult to interconnect energy systems to the grid, mainly because existing procedures are not designed with energy storage systems in mind.

　　A consortium led by the U.S. Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Solar Energy Technologies seeks to address such barriers on the grounds that interconnection barriers are unnecessary and can be addressed.

　　Industry media have heard from various sources that this may be a long and difficult process and has been affected by delays related to the new crown epidemic for the past two years. Regional transmission and distribution providers in the U.S. have been waiting for significant delays for energy storage developers to connect solar-plus-storage projects and standalone battery-storage projects.

　　SES Power has extensive experience in the field of lithium battery energy storage systems, and we believe that deploying a battery energy storage system becomes meaningless if it is not connected to the grid. Of course, connecting to the expansive grid is a very important and valuable part of any energy storage project that participates in grid services or the energy market. In this link, hardware and infrastructure are not the most important, the most important thing is the compatibility, high speed and reliability of the software system. Our off-grid, grid-connected, off-grid small and medium-sized energy storage systems, such as 12V100Ah, 24V100Ah, 36V100Ah, 48V100Ah using EVE, CATL, BYD square aluminum-shell lithium iron phosphate batteries, and home energy storage systems of 3KW and 5KW, rack-mounted energy storage systems and other products use standard RS485, CAN and other communication protocols, and also support remote monitoring and operation. At the same time, AI intelligent analysis and cloud storage are added to the new generation of systems to ensure system compatibility, high speed and reliable.

　　The U.S. Interstate Renewable Energy Commission (IREC) has developed a project for this, the Build a Technically Reliable Energy Storage Interconnection Evolution (BATRIES) project, a free toolkit and 8 salient regulatory or technical issues for grid interconnection are proposed.

　　Also participating in the development of the BATRISES project are the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) and the California Solar Energy and Storage Association (CALSSA), the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) and Pacific Power, among others.

　　Larry Sherwood, president and CEO of the Interstate Renewable Energy Commission (IREC), said, “By modernizing the rules governing the interconnection of energy storage systems to the grid, regulators and utilities can enable more more renewable energy sources, and in some cases even doubling transmission capacity. They can also make the interconnection process faster, more predictable, and reduce costs for energy storage system interconnection applicants.”

　　These issues and obstacles include not including energy storage in interconnection rules, the need to update export rules and a better understanding of the best strategic locations on the grid to provide energy storage capacity.

　　Seth Hilton, an industry expert at the law firm StoelRives, said recently that California Independent System Operators (CASIOs) are receiving more energy storage interconnection requests than they can handle.

　　Utilities and other load-serving entities in California may not meet mandated deployment goals, he said. Hilton said that because California is the leading energy storage market in the United States, it is more experienced in integrating battery storage systems.

　　Bernadette DelChiar, executive director of the California Solar Energy and Storage Association (CALSSA), said at the launch of the BATTRIES toolkit recently, “The interconnection problems of energy storage systems of all sizes in California are increasing. Everyone concerned about energy reliability and clean energy solutions quickly Both policymakers and regulators deploying should focus on this toolkit today.”