Introduction to Battery Energy Storage System

Open Course: Available on scheduled dates. Contact cpdtraining@engineersireland.ie or call 01 665 1305, or check our CPD Calendar here.

Course Overview

This course is to provide an entry level understanding of the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) market in Ireland and the technical requirements of BESS projects. The key objective is to provide participants with sufficient knowledge to engage with the energy storage market, identify key areas of interest and to provide sufficient foundation across multiple areas to support further learning. The training is developed with the aim of being relevant across the Island of Ireland, however, in the occasions that there are differences in regulation or approach, these will be highlighted.The technical aspects of the course are aimed at an audience with no prior knowledge of BESS.

Learning Outcomes

• Introduce BESS technology in power systems, and provide context for BESS compared to global EV and pumped hydro industries;
• Demystify the terminology surrounding energy storage by defining key terms and acronyms, detailing the technical concepts for a non-technical audience;
• Review an industrial scale BESS facility, detailing the key components as-built;
• Provide an understanding of how energy storage can enable the renewable energy transition;
• Provide an understanding of the commercial relevance of different technology choices, including those currently utilised and those expected to be commercially viable/available in the near future;
• Provide an understanding of the opportunities for energy storage projects as the Irish market continues to move towards a higher penetration of renewable generation;
• Aim to ensure participants gain sufficient understanding of the development and construction processes for BESS projects to engage in meaningful discussion with developers and contractors operating in the market;
• Provide an understanding of the challenges facing the energy storage market in the short term and the opportunities to adapt and adopt new technologies in the long term.

Course Programme

Introduction:

• Basic principles of BESS technology to provide the context and baseline understanding required for the course;
• A review of BESS technology compared to EV market developments, and compared to pumped hydro energy storage;

BESS technology:

• Key components of battery systems, and how these are assembled into a BESS facility;
• Advantages and disadvantages of different styles of BESS, e.g. modular or containerised;
• Advantages and disadvantages of different battery chemistries;
• Review of an industrial scale BESS facility, including additional components aside from core BESS equipment.

BESS business models and relevance:

• The importance of duration;
• Discussion of various business models (tailored to the audience’s areas of interest, covering industrial scale, network services, and commercial & industrial applications);

Degradation and Augmentation:

• Degradation profiles and effects;
• Planning for degradation and augmentation strategies;
• Warranties.

Key principals of co-locating BESS with renewable generation:

• Co-location with solar or wind;
• Overview of the different coupling configurations;
• Project selection considerations

Questions and Comments on Technology

Overview of the battery energy storage landscape for UK & Ireland:

• History of BESS installations in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland;
• History of BESS in the UK;
• A review of tenders which supported the BESS markets, and the role of network operators.

BESS Operations:

• Examples of BESS operating profiles;
• Examples of service stacking.

Optimisation:

• Optimisation time horizons;
• Review of service evolution over time;
• Service stacking and optimisation – principles for successful delivery;
• Discussion of how design and optimisation focus changes depending on the BESS application and target business plan;
• Stakeholder view of optimisation, and why this market exists.

Safety and Insurance:

• Review of fire events at BESS facilities, covering both fire and explosion risks where individual examples of both types of event are provided;
• Introduction to thermal runaway and a comparison to traditional fire events;
• Comparison of heat release rates of various battery chemistries;
• Introduction to fire testing methodology, how the test is performed, and review of what a good result looks like;
• Explosive gases and how these can arise in battery applications;
• Summary and wrap-up of risk factors for a BESS project;
• Risk management : how to mitigate these risks at an operational BESS;
• Insurability : a broad review of design features which are likely to be supported and/or challenged by insurers.

BESS O&M:

• Key parties for BESS asset management;
• Overview of BESS degradation profiles;
• Typical lifetimes of key items of plant;
• Key technical inputs of O&M contracts, e.g. response times, performance guarantees and maintenance of spare parts.
• Questions & comments on technology and Project Development

During the training the trainer will be happy to answer relevant questions and a Question and Answer (Q&A) session will conclude the course. Following the course, the key materials will be distributed to the participants.

Who Should Attend

The training will be targeted at an audience new to energy storage with an interest to operate in the Irish market. The level of detail will be aimed at a non-technical audience or an audience new to energy storage and will aim to provide an introduction to the Irish market for local and international developers.

About the Trainer

John O'Toole

The training will be delivered by John O’Toole, Head of Commercial Operations at Field Energy. John is a Chartered Engineer and has over 25 years of experience in the energy sector in Ireland and the UK. He has worked in gas-fired generation operations (CHP and CCGT) in Ireland, and in wind, solar and BESS development and operations in the UK.

John is accustomed to providing training sessions on a wide variety of technical and commercial topics, and focusses on communicating the key drivers of the topic at hand so that technical and non-technical audiences can build a solid basis of understanding to support further learning and experience.