Battery Electrical Energy Storage (BESS)Commissioning Overview

A Safety Focus

Daniel Borneo

SAND2019-6575 PE

California Energy Commission

Energy Storage Review

June 14, 2019

Introduction to BESS Commissioning

2

Goal: Verifies safe installation and tests the system’s performance and safety features.

Why is it important: • Installed and operates as designed• Meets all codes and standards• Insures operation of the system and safety features• Familiarizes O&M staff with system and its operation

Process: • Plan for it• Develop testing checklists and procedures• Commissioning requirements/schedules throughout design and construction• Test for safety and applications

Tools: checklists, specifications, codes, standards, engineered drawings, and procedures/tests to validate performance

Like testing a car for quality –Don’t wait until the car is finished to inspect it

Start with Safety in mind

• BESS – System Elements• Type of battery• Size of battery (MW and MWH)• PCS (Inverter) size and limitations • Physical Location of battery

• Safety testing considerations • System shutdown – what triggers it? Is it fail safe?• Annunciation and signaling systems• Smoke alarm• Fire suppression• Signage and instructions• Training – Operators, First responders

Energy Storage Project Implementation Process

4

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

DESIGN

PROCUREMENT/CONSTRUCTION/STARTUP-TESTING

SHAKEDOWN/ OPERATION/. PUNCHLISTCLOSEOUT

Commissioning

Commissioning Roles and Responsibilities - Overall

5

Commissioning Element Involvement

Programming Owner / Design Engineer

Design Design Engineer / Owner/Vendor/Installer/AHJ/Fire staff

Safety Plans Construction – Construction contractor; Commissioning –Owner

Safety Meetings Daily by owner of activity/All

Factory Acceptance Testing Vendor/Owner/Integrator

Site preparation / Construction Installer/Owner

Field Installation / Design verification Design Engineer / vendor/Installer/Owner/AHJ/Fire Staff

Pre-start inspection Owner/ vendor/System integrator/ Developer/Installer

Operational Acceptance Testing System Integrator/ Installer/Owner

SAFETY SESSION Owner/All

Integrated System Start-up System Integrator/Owner/Installer/vendor

Functional Performance Testing System Integrator/Owner/Vendor

Handoff / Training/Shakedown Owner/AHJ/Fire staff/All

Commissioning Closeout Owner / All

Safety Considerations During:

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Project phase Safety Element

Design Environmental Health and Safety design considerations (Codes and standards)/ Permitting

Factory Acceptance Testing Testing of safety features

Construction Safety Plan for work, AHJ Inspections, design verification

Field Installation Safety components of system and balance of plant

Pre-start Inspection Safety Plan and checklist - All safeties in place

Operational Acceptance Testing Check for operation of safety features

Integrated System Start-up Test safety system functionality

Functional Performance Testing

Shakedown System operation and shutdown when bad things happen - EHS Response

Commissioning Closeout Emergency procedure in place, signage in place, emergency Phone # listed

Elements of Battery Energy Storage System (ESS)7

Storage

• Storage device

• Racking

• $/KWh

Balance of Plant

• Housing

• Wiring

• Climate control

• Fire protection

• Construction and Permitting

• $ / project (function of scale)

Power Control System (PCS)

• Bi-directional Inverter

• Interconnection / Switchgear

• Transformer

• $/KW

Energy management System (EMS)

• Charge / Discharge

• Load Management

• Ramp rate control

• Grid Stability

• Monitoring

• $ / ESS

• Distributed Energy Resources (DER) control

• Synchronization

• Islanding and Microgridcontrol

• $ / microgrid

Site Management System (SMS)

Battery Management System (BMS)

• Battery Management & Protection (

• $/KWh

Battery technologies and their energy densities8

Curtesy of: Battery University

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Wh

/kg

Energy Density

Abbreviation Name VRFB Vanadium Redox Battery Lead Acid Lead Acid NiCd Nickel Cadmium NiMH Nickel Metal Hydride LTO Lithium Titanate LFP Lithium Iron Phosphate LMO Lithium Ion Manganese Oxide NMC Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide LCO Lithium Cobalt Oxide NCA Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide Zn-MgO2 Zinc Manganese Oxide NaNiCl2 Sodium Nickel Chloride (Zebra)

Tesla

I-Phone

LG/Volt

Batteries: What to do, know, and watch out for

• Much energy in small area• Isolation means

• Reduce the available fault current in system• Circuit interrupters

• Packaging needs to help eliminate cascading• Rack inverters

• Rack Breakers

• Module breakers

• No leakers

Battery Management System (BMS)10

• The BMS controls (in conjunction with the energy management system) the charge and discharge of the battery

• BMS adjusts charge voltage –

• Charging to a lower Voltage limit allows extended operation at partial SOC

• The BMS monitors cell health and detects and annunciates cell and module failures.

• The BMS measures cell voltages, currents and temperatures, and balances cells.

• Limits available fault current

• The BMS is major contributor to the overall system safety.

CHECKNeed to test charge and discharge parameters

Do we have fail safe system?

Check Communication between BMS and PCS

Power Electronics11

• Converts DC to AC and Vice Versa

PCS components:• AC/DC circuit breakers and contactors• Inverter modules. Switching Diodes (HEAT)• System monitoring• Cooling System • Controls BESS interface to the grid:

• Controls real (P) and reactive (Q) power• Ability to look like generator to grid• Grid stabilization (synthetic inertia, and active damping)

CHECK Operate in anti-islanding or Island mode (Breaker operation) Black start (REQUIRES AUX Power) Cooling system operation and fail safe mechanism Sequence of Operation Available fault current COMMUNICATION TO BMS and INVERTERS

Energy Management System12

Controller that:

• Monitors grid voltage

• Manages energy flow to/from grid

• Controls current or voltage source mode of operation of inverter

• Controls ESS

CHECKCommunication with inverter, BMS, Site controller

Controls balance of plant – HVAC, emergency stop, fire protection

Insures inverters operate batteries within the battery parameters.

COMMUINCATION TO PCS AND BMS

Site Management System (SMS) 13

The SMS interfaces with the ES energy management system, distributed energy resources and the grid and acts as the Master Controller

• Monitors Grid• Measure grid electrical conditions – voltage, current, frequency, Power

• Event logging

• Data Management , including historical records

• Sensors, Breakers, re-closers, Power Measurement Unit (PMI)

• Operates BESS and Distributed Energy Resources (DER)• Enable stability control

• Demand reduction

• Regulation/power quality

CHECKSequence of operations (Application control testing)

System shutdown and restart

Cyber Security

Load management

Balance of Plant14

• Balance of plant• HVAC: battery temperature operations (10-40 C)

• Fire protection: water sprinklers; oxygen-depleting chemicals; smoke alarms; fail-safe shut-down controls; emergency off

• Electrical distribution: Over-current protection, i.e., coordinated breakers / fused disconnects

• Communications

• Site work: pad, fencing, conduit / wiring AND GROUNDING

CHECK:Grounding of inverter, xfrm, and equipment

Fire protection system shuts down operation and suppression operates

Breakers tested

Communications

On board cooling system for EPC 125kW bi-directional inverter.

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COMMISSIONINGSafety and Reliability Focus

Operational Acceptance Test

(OAT)

Start-up

Functional Acceptance Test

(FAT)

Shakedown

Factory Witness Test (FWT)

Individual components

System as a whole including all controls

Sequence of operation/Application testing.

Anomaly/Safety performance

Commissioning / Testing Process details

Commissioning Program initiation

Owner operates and Controls

Test system performance

Team and program development. R&R

Base line measurements Operations•Voltage•Capacity•Ramp rate•Charge time•Discharge time

Safety• IR scan of connections and

batteries•Fault current protection testing•Fire suppression testing

Commissioning Activities during Design

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Identify commissioning team and roles and responsibilities and integrate with project team • Owner • Construction Contractor• ES Equipment Vendor • Energy Storage (ES) System integrator – (Important position) • Engineering designer – (ES installation and balance of plant) • Inspectors/EHS representatives/First Responders • Operations and Maintenance • Utility Representative – (Point Of Connection)

Review equipment specifications and applicable codes & standards • What is the KW/KWh rating, why? • Parameters that system needs to meet

Develop and/or review the system Sequence Of Operations (SOO) • What application(s) will system be used for• Develop equipment list of items that will be commissioned

Review and/or establish ESH requirements • What safety systems need to be installed • Develop Site Incident Prevention Plan-Authorization POC, LOTO, Hot-work

Commissioning Activities during Construction

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• Factory Acceptance Tests• Vendor conducts factory Acceptance testing using Sequence of Operations (SOO)

• Do we know what tests to run and what the results should be?• What is it we are looking for• What is the spped of the control signals and how often

• Develop start-up procedures• Based on equipment list, system manuals, SOO and operating specifications

• Operating Specifications – Parameters that the system should operate within.• Develop testing procedures

• Based on SOO and applications• PNNL/Sandia Testing Protocol

• http://www.sandia.gov/ess/publications/SAND2016-3078R.pdf• (We need to revise this document to include more applications)

• Develop installation review checklists and perform inspections• Design Verification – Installed as designed & specified; labeling and signage in place, clearances, • Code adherence• Punchlist items noted• Who does designer? Owner/Operator? Third party?

• Develop Training and emergency response procedures• MSDS (Safety data sheets)

• Implement Lock-out/Tag-out process

Commissioning Process-Operational Acceptance Testing (OAT)

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Do the Individual components of the system operate?

• Verify and test that the individual electrical, mechanical components of the system are ready for start-up.• Megering, torqueing, rotation/phasing, covers and barriers

• Verify that the controls are in place and test operation• Point-to-point check

• Verify electrical protection and relays are coordinated and are operational • Verify and test that all safety systems are installed and operating.

• Temperature, leak, security, fire alarm, flow, pressure• Verify and test that all communication systems are operating• Owner/operator should be involved during this phase to learn system components• Emergency procedures are in place and Lock/out tag out process implemented

• Tag and sign off – System is ready to operate

Note: Is 3rd party testing of any of the individual componets (circuit breakers, fire suppression) required?

Commissioning Process – Start-up

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Do the components operate as a system?

• Using start-up procedures, operate all components as a system• Record base-line data

• Voltage, currents, • Temperatures, flows, pressures• Energy Storage Capacity• Charge time• Discharge time• IR scan connections and batteries

• Record and repair punch list items

Does Automatic and remote control operate as required Are Safeties functioning and annunciation and control working Is Data Acquisition system operating, reading and recording data and

transmitting/saving/displaying as required

Commissioning Process-Functional Acceptance Test (FAT)

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• Using PROTOCALs, Testing plans and procedures, test to insure system performs the functions/applications for which it was designed.• Are all components and sub-systems operating in unison?• Is communication system sending and receiving data as intended- type and frequency. Are anomalies

being annunciated?• Is data collected adequate to determine system performance?• Complete training for operators, maintenance and first responders?• Is operation and maintenance plan in place?• Is warranty in place?• Is emergency response procedures in place: 1-800 number in the event of an emergency• Log baseline data

CHECK: Applications System control and annunciation Remote operation and data gathering Cyber security features Base Line measurements

Commissioning Process - Shakedown

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When bad things happen does the system operate in such a manner as to protect the people, the environment, the equipment, and the facilities?

• Turn off major utilities serving project.• Determine if safety systems work as designed or needed.• Evaluate if systems fail in a safe mode.• Assess if back-up systems operate as needed.• Do alarms serve the purpose

• Turn on major utilitiesDetermine if the systems come up in a safe manner.Assess if backup systems turn off in a safe/ready mode.

Hard to do on a working GRID CHECK… BUT• Shutdown mechanisms• Annunciation• Protection mechanism

System Operation (Keeping it safe)

• Monitor Performance• capacity fade

• Efficiency

• Balance of Plant loads and performance• Measure power consumption for overall system efficiency

• Preform preventative and Predictive maintenance• IR scans

• Fire protection system

• Annunciation system

• We don’t know what we don’t know

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Protocol for Evaluation of ES Systems

Companies looking for an accurate method to gauge how well large batteries and other grid-scale energy storage systems work use these evaluation guidelines, called the Energy Storage Performance Protocol.

The guidelines currently evaluate three energy storage performance uses: • Peak Shaving • Frequency Regulation• Islanded Microgrids

Additional Lab Protocols: • Duty Cycle for ESS Firming• Duty Cycle for PV Smoothing

Code and Standards Support for Safety Design of ES Systems

Food for Thought Summary: Safety - What is needed?

• System considerations • High energy density batteries that are safer

• Hybrid systems• Predictive maintenance tools

• Codes and standards• Need to be clear and implementable

• Adequate Fire protection• Today’s systems may be false security

• Improvements in testing procedures• Energy Isolation means• BMS controls need to have fail safe mechanisms to

• Control max charge SOC• Discharge point• Temperature feedback and control charge/discharge rates based upon temperature

• Better troubleshooting guides

Thank You

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Daniel Borneo drborne@sandia.gov

This work was supported by DOE’s OE Stationary Energy Storage Program. Director: Dr. Imre Gyuk

LAST POINT:IT ALWAYS CRAMMED INTO THE LAST MINUTE, AND IT ALWAYS TAKES LONGER THAN PLANNED