GRIDSTOR – Recommended Practice on grid-connected energy storage: first draft

DNV GL will support and share expertise with the world’s most influential energy network.

The Joint Industry Project GRIDSTOR, which kicked off early 2015, has the objective to move the market for energy storage systems from a project-based market to a product-based market, through the creation of a Recommended Practice (RP) for system safety, operation and performance. On June 30th and July 1st, the consortium of GRIDSTOR convened in London to review and discuss the first draft of the Recommended Practice, describing recommendations for Safety, Operation and Performance of grid-connected energy storage systems.

The GRIDSTOR consortium has united to create and publish the Recommended Practice by the end of 2015. The consortium partners represent different parts of the energy storage market.  Involvement includes both manufacturers and users as well as the system integrator side of energy storage systems and academic knowledge partners. Having this diverse group of participants is critical for the success of the initiative, where all participants agree that the current different stakeholders in the market speak different languages when discussing specifics such as lifetime determination and responsibilities. The Recommended Practice has the objective to develop common agreement on issues such as these, creating a level playing field for the sector as a whole. Kurt Adams from GRIDSTOR Participant JSR Micro: “This initiative allows faster recognition of an innovative technology like the Ultimo Lithium Ion Capacitor. DNV GL understands the dynamic evolution of energy storage in the grid, therefore we have been eager to participate in this project.”

The GRIDSTOR participants took this opportunity to influence development of a global, industry-wide Recommended Practice for grid-connected energy storage systems. They will also play an essential role in the project by creating the required acceptance of the Recommended Practices and by delivering key input. Stephen Tordoff from GRIDSTOR Participant Energy Canvas concurs: “With energy storage being such a hot topic, the GRIDSTOR initiative is timely for the support of solid investment decisions in the development, deployment and operation of energy storage assets.‎We're proud to participate with DNV GL and the consortium partners to deliver this relevant project.”

GRIDSTOR is aligning with relevant activities of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC, the international standards and conformity body for all fields of electrotechnology). The secretariat of IEC TC 120 (which is an initiative similar to the GRIDSTOR objective) recognized that the IEC can make use of the lessons learnt in and the best practices of the GRIDSTOR project, enabling IEC to use that as preparatory work to build upon.  Although direct involvement by the IEC is not possible, since the IEC must retain its objective character, the GRIDSTOR Joint Industry Project is invited to participate in regular meetings of TC 120 and forward its results into the IEC process of setting up the standard. Also, the secretariat suggests GRIDSTOR to initiate workshops where the content of the GRIDSTOR Recommended Practice is shared and discussed with a.o. representatives from the IEC (as will be the case in London June 30 / July 1), as such enabling the RP to be used as input for TC 120.

For more information, please contact Martijn Huibers (martijn.huibers@dnvgl.com/ +31-26-3562403)