What Do Utilities Need to Know About Deploying BESS?
Approaches to battery energy storage system planning, construction, integration, and safety
Since 2010, utilities in the U.S. have added almost 20 GW of battery storage to the grid. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are being used across the country to store power from renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, and as power backup systems for critical infrastructure, like hospitals, factories, and municipal facilities. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, operators added 5 GW of BESS to the U.S. power grid in the first seven months of 2024 and dozens more systems are awaiting approval.
Despite this surge of domestic utilities integrating more BESS into their grids than ever before, few standards exist to guide their deployment or account for the variety of available systems, components, and interconnection specificities. There are, however, best practices for planning, building, integrating, and managing BESS that can make the process faster, safer, and more efficient for both operators and the communities they serve.
