EnergyNewswatch

Battery Storage Safety

Live Streaming Online April 18, 2023

An EUCI Program

Click Here to register $895

If you are unable to attend at the scheduled date and time, we make recordings available to all registrants for three business days after the event

 

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are now in widespread use for a variety of applications, such as frequency regulation, demand response, transmission and distribution infrastructure deferral, integration of renewable energy, and microgrids.

Yet, as storage deployment proliferates in the utility and power system mainstream, gaps in safety practices for energy storage have become apparent. The most ubiquitous storage technology, lithium-Ion batteries – though generally safe — have been linked to fire, explosion, and hazardous material exposure under several conditions.

This course will give attendees a thorough grounding in the basics of safe battery storage such as:

  • Familiarization with different types of battery storage
  • Identifying different types of safety hazards
  • Learning how to design and operate for safety
  • Testing standards and how to safely decommission/recycle batteries

Learning Outcomes

  • Review the different types of battery storage
  • Identify the different types of safety hazards for batteries
  • Review the hazards associated with each type of battery
  • Discuss the testing standards and certifications for safety
  • Discuss how to design for safety and operating safely
  • Examine installation measures for batteries
  • Explain how to safely operate battery storage
  • Discuss decommissioning & removal practices

Registration & Attendance Criteria

This course is open to utilities, power and energy industry operating companies (see above), software vendors, consumer groups, project developers and regulators only.  Registrations that do not meet this criteria – or that may be construed as a competitive conflict – will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and may not qualify for attendance.  Any determination as to the fulfillment of a registration to attend this program shall reside solely with EUCI.

Agenda

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2023

9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Central Time

Quick Review of Battery Types

  1. Lead-Acid
  2. Lithium-Ion
  3. Other Non-flow chemistries that are commercial
  4. Redox Flow batteries
  5. Organic Flow batteries
  6. Plating Flow batteries

Battery Safety Hazards

  1. Leakage and spills
  2. Stray voltage
  3. Off-gassing
  4. Thermal run away
  5. Toxic fumes
  6. Hazardous waste
  7. Power quality
  8. Other

Battery Type vs. Hazard

  1. Which battery types have which hazards
  2. Variations in a chemical family (e.g. Li-Ion)

Standards That Apply to Safety

  1. NFPA 855
  2. NFPA (NEC) 70
  3. IEEE 1625
  4. IEEE 1725
  5. ISO/IEC 17025
  6. UN/DOT 38.3
  7. Other safety standards

Testing Standards and Certifications

  1. UL 1642 Lithium Cell
  2. UL 2054 Safety Requirements for Household and Commercial Batteries
  3. UL 2580
  4. UL 1989 Standby Batteries
  5. UL/CSA/IEC 60950 (may be evaluated in conjunction with UL 2054)

Designing for Safety

  1. Which standards apply to your project
  2. Which chemistry best fits your use case(s)
  3. Optimizing non-flow batteries deployment
    • Siting considerations
    • Containment measures
  4. Civil and electrical infrastructure limits/issues/concerns
  5. Housing and other occupied structures around your site
  6. What comes “out of the box” from the battery manufacturer
  7. All hazards associated with specific chemistry chosen

General Installation Measures

  1. Fire suppression system
  2. The right firewalls/construction type
  3. Enough room to get emergency vehicles into the site
  4. Sources of water for emergency use
  5. Secondary containment
  6. Proper grounding
  7. Arc flash prevention/safe distances
  8. Automated protection system(s) — electrical fire, off-gassing — etc.
  9. Proper sensors for any hazard
  10. Examples of design/code considerations for various sizes of kW

Operating Safety

  1. Use case and the battery limits
  2. Maintenance
  3. Limits to operation

Decommissioning & Removal

  1. Batteries life and variations
  2. Design that incorporates decommissioning

*Throughout the discussion, to illustrate points, compare and contrast safety concerns, design issues, etc., two battery deployment examples will be used — a 1 MW/4 MWH Li-Ion battery setup and a 5MW/40 MWH flow battery

Instructor

Doug Houseman, Utility Modernization Lead, Burns & McDonnell

Doug Houseman is the Grid Modernization Lead for Burns and McDonnell. He has been working on storage issues since 1980, when he was involved with a number of DOD projects.  As a long-time industry veteran, Mr. Houseman has worked on all seven continents and in more than 70 countries on grid-related issues.  Before joining the Burns & McDonnell, he was previously the Vice President for Technical Innovation at EnerNex, and the CTO for Energy at Capgemini.  He is the Chairman of the IEEE PES Grid and Emerging Technology Coordinating Committee, a member of several standards working groups, and the author of CEATI’s Distribution Utility Technology Roadmap, as well as the Low Carbon Menu.  In addition, Mr. Houseman is a member of the Gridwise Architecture Council (GWAC), chair of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Intelligent Grid and Emerging Technology Coordinating Committee, and a NIST Resiliency Fellow.



 

 


 


 

 
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