Active engagement with the Judiciary is critical

Working closely with the Judiciary (AHJ) is critical to the success of the U.S. battery storage industry, but the following points need to be kept in mind at all times.

That’s the conclusion of multiple sources interviewed by TGPRO News at the RE+ Solar and Storage trade event in Las Vegas. Jurisdictions enforce building codes, fire codes, zoning and other important regulations in their particular area, and thus are effectively the gatekeepers of buildings in their towns, cities, counties and so on.

Obviously, this includes battery energy storage system (BESS) projects as well, and local fire departments and other similar agencies need to ensure that the developer’s plans include the use of certified safety equipment.

Seungse Chang, head and senior vice president of LG Energy Solutions’ Energy Storage Battery Business Unit, provided technology provider insights, while Burns McDonnell’s Ben Echeverria, energy storage regulations and compliance specialist, and Julian Hoover, project manager, offered perspectives from the EPC.

When asked what has changed in the U.S. energy storage landscape in the last five years or so since megawatt-scale BESS development became more commonplace, Hoover said jurisdictions and their communities tend to be much more educated about the technology than they used to be.

“You think of the challenges that the judiciary faced when [BESS] was first introduced, not even knowing what a battery storage program was. The big difference today is that there’s a lot more education being provided to the community, to the judiciary, to the EPCs, to the project owners, and I think we’re all starting to have a better understanding of what it is,” Hoover said.

Last year, in an interview for our quarterly newsletter PV Tech Power, Paul Rogers, a fire safety and battery storage subject matter expert with the Energy Safety Response Group (ESRG), said stakeholder engagement with the judiciary early in the development process is absolutely critical, but many in the BESS industry don’t realize or ignore it.

This is echoed in the site’s recent visitor blog, co-authored by one of his colleagues, ESRG head Nick Warner. Both are former firefighters with an intimate knowledge of the judiciary and its thinking.Burns McDonnell’s Ben Echeverria and Julian Hoover agreed with the ESRG experts on RE+ this week.

Echeverria said the early involvement of local authorities in applying for conditional use permits for project land can help jurisdictions familiarize themselves with the technology being used.

Education, education, education

“One of the most important things I’ve seen in dealing directly with jurisdictions is that they have two extremes,” Echeverria added.

“[Some of the judiciary] are uneducated, but somewhat worried because of their local atmosphere, if you will, toward the opposition. And then you see the other side of the extreme, the well-educated jurisdictions, because they’re hiring subject matter expert consultants to bridge that gap, to act as gatekeepers to make sure that they’re not going to go out and put something in their jurisdiction that they know nothing about and may or may not pose a danger.”

In other words, Echeverria said, it’s about “education, education, education,” noting that the industry’s reluctance to talk about fire safety only “exacerbates the problem,” and that many recent BESS programs have failed in their application because of local community-raised concerns.

At the same time, Hoover said that where there has been early engagement and success, education has helped guide industry best practices and led to active participation by jurisdictions, which is a step in the right direction.

Customizing to meet the requirements of specific jurisdictions

LG Energy Solution’s Seungse Chang told TGPRO NEWS that fundamentally, no large BESS project can pass the AHJ’s requirements without meeting the critical UL9540 certification or passing the UL9540A fire test. In most cases, the National Fire Protection Association code NFPA855, which contains these elements, is required.

LG Energy Solution has launched a systems integrator division, LG Energy Solution Vertech, which was largely formed through the acquisition of NEC Energy Solutions and therefore has a further stake in the sector and sells its BESS battery products and solutions.

From residential scale to large meter front-ends, without UL certificates and reports, LG ES or any other company would not be able to sell its products in the US.

However, Chang says that while in most cases this is sufficient to meet the requirements of the judiciary, there are times when it is necessary to go beyond the requirements of these standards and benchmarks in order for the judiciary to accept the use of BESS equipment in certain projects.

“Even though we are fully certified to UL regulations, different jurisdictions and counties have made some very customized and specific requirements,” Chang said, adding that the LG ES will meet those requirements, with the head of the battery storage division noting that no two requirement types are the same.

As Paul Rogers pointed out in his 2022 interview, fire departments believe that the worst-case scenario is possible with any equipment installed in their jurisdiction. Of course, it is their job to do just that and put the safety of the community first.

Chang agrees that mitigating the worst-case scenario is usually what these authorities are asking for. It can also work both ways, some jurisdictions may be less stringent, but the bottom line is that what the jurisdiction says works, and the industry can and should work with them.

“UL has specific recommendations such as how far apart each container needs to be, but in some cases some jurisdictions require longer distances” and in either case, customized BESS asset designs are required to meet those needs.”