
On 19 October 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final rule directing the North American Reliability Corporation (NERC) to develop new or modified reliability standards to tackle the issue of grid reliability gaps relating to inverter-based resources (IBRs). 1 The reliability standards will impact wind and solar renewables, as well as battery storage. [pdf]
This Standard specifies the electrical installation requirements for inverter energy systems and grid protection devices with ratings up to 10 kVA for single-phase units, or up to 30 kVA for three-phase units, for the injection of electric power through an electrical installation to the electricity distribution network.
As required by Order No. 901, NERC will file reliability standards in three phases through late 2026. Energy storage resources are undoubtedly versatile assets that can play a number of different roles on the grid, including to support transmission reliability.
As cited in the DOE OE ES Program Plan, “Industry requires specifications of standards for characterizing the performance of energy storage under grid conditions and for modeling behavior. Discussions with industry professionals indicate a significant need for standards ” [1, p. 30].
Table 3.1. Energy Storage System and Component Standards 2. If relevant testing standards are not identified, it is possible they are under development by an SDO or by a third-party testing entity that plans to use them to conduct tests until a formal standard has been developed and approved by an SDO.
FERC also gave NERC flexibility to “propose to develop new or modified Reliability Standards that address [FERC’s] concerns in an equally efficient and effective manner,” but in that case, NERC must “explain how the new or modified Reliability Standards address the Commission’s concerns” discussed in Order No. 901. 11
Discussions with industry professionals indicate a significant need for standards ” [1, p. 30]. Under this strategic driver, a portion of DOE-funded energy storage research and development (R&D) is directed to actively work with industry to fill energy storage Codes & Standards (C&S) gaps.

Filling gaps in energy storage C&S presents several challenges, including (1) the variety of technologies that are used for creating ESSs, and (2) the rapid pace of advances in storage technology and applications, e.g., battery technologies are making significant breakthroughs relative to more established. . The challenge in any code or standards development is to balance the goal of ensuring a safe, reliable installation without hobbling technical. . The pace of change in storage technology outpaces the following example of the technical standards development processes. All published. The IEC 62933 series of standards specifically addresses various aspects of ESS, including testing methods (IEC 62933-2-1), safety requirements for grid-integrated ESS (IEC 62933-5-2), safety considerations for grid-integrated ESS (IEC 62933-5-1), planning and performance assessment of ESS (IEC 62933-3-1), and guidance on environmental issues (IEC 62933-4-1). [pdf]
Discussions with industry professionals indicate a significant need for standards ” [1, p. 30]. Under this strategic driver, a portion of DOE-funded energy storage research and development (R&D) is directed to actively work with industry to fill energy storage Codes & Standards (C&S) gaps.
Until existing model codes and standards are updated or new ones developed and then adopted, one seeking to deploy energy storage technologies or needing to verify an installation’s safety may be challenged in applying current CSRs to an energy storage system (ESS).
As shown in Fig. 3, many safety C&S affect the design and installation of ESS. One of the key product standards that covers the full system is the UL9540 Standard for Safety: Energy Storage Systems and Equipment . Here, we discuss this standard in detail; some of the remaining challenges are discussed in the next section.
The protocol is serving as a resource for development of U.S. standards and has been formatted for consideration by IEC Technical Committee 120 on energy storage systems. Without this document, committees developing standards would have to start from scratch. WHAT’S NEXT FOR PERFORMANCE?
As cited in the DOE OE ES Program Plan, “Industry requires specifications of standards for characterizing the performance of energy storage under grid conditions and for modeling behavior. Discussions with industry pro-fessionals indicate a significant need for standards” [1, p. 30].
It is recognized that electric energy storage equipment or systems can be a single device providing all required functions or an assembly of components, each having limited functions. Components having limited functions shall be tested for those functions in accordance with this standard.

UL 9540 provides a basis for safety of energy storage systems that includes reference to critical technology safety standards and codes, such as UL 1973, the Standard for Batteries for Use in Stationary, Vehicle Auxiliary Power and Light Electric Rail (LER) Applications; UL 1741, the Standard for Inverters, Converters, Controllers and Interconnection System Equipment for Use With Distributed Energy Resources; IEEE 1547 and 1547.1; CSA FC1; NFPA 70; NFPA 2; ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code; and ASME B31 piping codes. [pdf]
Discussions with industry professionals indicate a significant need for standards ” [1, p. 30]. Under this strategic driver, a portion of DOE-funded energy storage research and development (R&D) is directed to actively work with industry to fill energy storage Codes & Standards (C&S) gaps.
The main challenge lies in developing advanced theories, methods, and techniques to facilitate the integration of safe, cost-effective, intelligent, and diversified products and components of electrochemical energy storage systems. This is also the common development direction of various energy storage systems in the future.
Standards are developed and used to guide the technological upgrading of electrochemical energy storage systems, and this is an important way to achieve high-quality development of energy storage technology and a prerequisite for promoting the development of energy storage marketization.
Due to the advantages of cost-effective performance, unaffected by the natural environment, convenient installation, and flexible use, the development of electrochemical energy storage has entered the fast lane nowadays.
As shown in Fig. 3, many safety C&S affect the design and installation of ESS. One of the key product standards that covers the full system is the UL9540 Standard for Safety: Energy Storage Systems and Equipment . Here, we discuss this standard in detail; some of the remaining challenges are discussed in the next section.
Energy storage has made massive gains in adoption in the United States and globally, exceeding a gigawatt of battery-based ESSs added over the last decade. While a lack of C&S for energy storage remains a barrier to even higher adoption, advances have been made and efforts continue to fill remaining gaps in codes and standards.
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