Page | 012 • IEC 63056 (Secondary cells and batteries containing alkaline or other non-acid electrolytes - Safety requirements for secondary lithium cells and batteries for use in electrical energy storage systems);
• IEC 62933-5-2 (Safety requirements for secondary batteries and battery installations - Part 5: Safe operation of stationary lithium ion batteries)
• IEC 62485-5 (Safety requirements for secondary batteries and battery installations - Part - 5: Lithium-ion batteries for stationary applications).
Testing to these standards is conducted by the battery manufacturer. International codes and standards are regularly updated using real-world experience and new testing to ensure safety standards are continuously evolving.
Lithium based batteries are also subject to the United Nations Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UN/DOT 38.3). These provide for the safe packaging and shipment of lithium-ion batteries and require a variety of testing under different altitude, vibration, impact and thermal conditions before transportation. Manufacturers of lithium batteries and products using lithium batteries must account for these testing requirements in the design, manufacture and distribution of their products.
These standards and codes mean that developers can be sure that the batteries they are sourcing for their systems are certified to high safety standards with extremely minimal chance of defects occurring.
The installation of the battery storage system at the site is finalised via site acceptance testing.
The purpose of this testing is to ensure that the system is installed properly, that no defects have occurred in transport and that the battery management and protection systems are working properly. This testing is carried out in cooperation between the battery system operator and the supplier.
At a system level, UL9540A8 is a test method for evaluating thermal runaway in battery storage systems that reduces the risk of a single cell event spreading to the rest of the system. This is a global standard that storage system suppliers test their products under to demonstrate compliance.
The international energy consultancy, DNV, has created global best practice guidelines for the safety, operation and performance of grid-connected energy storage systems (RP43)9. These guidelines are intended to help battery storage system developers and were created by drawing on international expertise from numerous industry bodies, associations, universities and technical experts. They contain a wide ranging set of recommendations in areas such as storage system design and safety, risk management, testing and coordination with local authorities.
In July 2020, DNV also published a detailed technical report titled ‘McMicken Battery Energy Storage System Event Technical Analysis and Recommendations’ which contains important information and recommendations on system design and incident prevention using the latest industry experience.10
8 https://www.ul.com/offerings/ul-9540a-test-method
9 DNV GL best practice guidelines for energy storage systems: https://rules.dnvgl.com/docs/pdf/DNVGL/RP/2017-09/DNVGL-RP-0043.pdf
10 https://www.aps.com/-/media/APS/APSCOM-PDFs/About/Our- Company/Newsroom/McMickenFinalTechnicalReport.ashx?la=en&hash=50335FB5098D9858BFD276C40FA54F CE
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