Battery Energy Storage, Explained

Energy storage powers our daily lives. The same technology that charges our phones, laptops, and electric vehicles is now making our electric grid more reliable. It enables our homes, businesses, and transportation infrastructure to run on clean, affordable electricity.

Learn more about GridStor and battery storage.

Batteries are designed with safety in mind, ensuring reliable performance when used correctly. Discover more about how batteries work and the rigorous safety standards that protect communities.

Battery Technology Basics

Batteries can be used to provide extra energy when there is high demand in your region, or to support the larger electrical grid during extreme weather events and other disruptions.

   Learn more about basic battery technology here.

What Are Grid-Scale Batteries?

In our electric grid, many packs of batteries at an energy storage facility take in excess power directly from the grid, store it, and let us push that power back out to homes and businesses when demand for electricity is high.

   Learn more about grid-scale batteries here.

Battery Energy Storage Safety

A commitment to safety in everything we do. From technology selection and design standards to training and emergency preparedness, the safety of our communities, employees, contractors, partners, and neighbors is our top priority.

   Learn more about battery safety here.

Flexibility for our power system, benefits for us all.

Energy storage systems provide flexibility to our electric infrastructure, producing a number of benefits:

Bolstering a clean electricity system

Energy storage enables electricity to be saved and used at a later time, when and where it is most needed. That unique flexibility enables power grid operators to rely on much higher amounts of variable, clean sources of electricity, like solar, wind, and hydropower, and to reduce our dependence on fuel-based generation, like coal and gas. Delivering more clean electricity with energy storage reduces local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from our power system.

Reducing cost

By storing energy when the price of electricity is low and discharging that energy later during periods of expensive, high demand, energy storage reduces the cost of power. When passed through to customers, those efficiencies can save families and businesses money.

Enhancing resilience

Similar to back-up batteries for household devices, energy storage systems support the larger electrical grid during extreme weather events and other disruptions. Keeping the lights on, air-conditioning or heating systems operating, and critical infrastructure working is important to keeping people safe.

Supporting local economies

Energy storage projects provide local taxes where they are sited, boosting local economies without adding pressure on other governmental services.

Did you know?

Facts about energy storage.

The U.S. has over 10 gigawatts of grid-connected battery storage operating today and is on a path to 100 gigawatts by the end of the decade.

Battery storage systems are everywhere – in cities and rural areas, in desert and arctic communities.

Power grid operators have been reliably operating battery storage systems for more than a decade.

Since 2013, battery costs have declined more than 80% while battery energy density has tripled.

The demand for greater electric system flexibility has elevated batteries to a central role in the power system.

Battery energy storage is low impact, with no air or water emissions and a compact footprint.

The U.S. energy storage industry supports over 70,000 jobs in advanced manufacturing, engineering, construction, and professional & other services.

The U.S. has over 10 gigawatts of grid-connected battery storage operating today and is on a path to 100 gigawatts by the end of the decade.

Battery storage systems are everywhere – in cities and rural areas, in desert and arctic communities.

Power grid operators have been reliably operating battery storage systems for more than a decade.

Since 2013, battery costs have declined more than 80% while battery energy density has tripled.

The demand for greater electric system flexibility has elevated batteries to a central role in the power system.

Battery energy storage is low impact, with no air or water emissions and a compact footprint.

The U.S. energy storage industry supports over 70,000 jobs in advanced manufacturing, engineering, construction, and professional & other services.

Safety is our #1 priority.

From technology selection and design standards to emergency preparedness, GridStor is committed to the safety of our communities, employees, contractors, partners and neighbors.

Held to the highest safety standards

The safe operation of our battery energy storage facilities is essential to providing the stable electric supply that powers ever more of our economy.

Rigorous codes and standards

Our energy storage projects must meet rigorous codes and standards to be permitted to operate – just like every other part of the electric system.

Certified, Tier 1 Technology

Every battery that we integrate with the electric grid is certified and tested at the battery and system-level to meet current safety standards.

National fire protection standards

Every energy storage project we build meets or exceeds national fire protection standards and complies with the latest codes and standards for battery energy storage systems. These standards are frequently updated to incorporate the codes and industry best practices for hazard mitigation tools and strategies.

Local and regional collaboration

We collaborate with state, regional, and local governments and first responders to plan, construct and operate each project with safety as a top priority, in compliance with their current standards.

How we practice energy storage safety.

At every stage, from planning to engineering to construction and operation, GridStor implements diversified strategies to ensure the safety of our battery energy storage facilities.

Engineering standards and testing

The batteries our projects use are designed, manufactured, and tested to adhere with the highest safety standards. The battery equipment must pass large-scale fire testing under Underwriters Laboratories certification.

Proper temperature management

Our energy storage projects have thermal management systems including ventilation, heating equipment, and cooling equipment, to maintain safe operating temperatures and humidity for the batteries.

Battery health sensors

Our projects are equipped with proven monitoring technology and advanced safety design features, like sensors that monitor battery voltage, current, temperatures, and health, to ensure early detection and mitigation of issues.

Fire safety equipment

Our energy storage facilities include equipment and systems designed to detect thermal events, vent gases, and mitigate propagation of any fire or thermal event. Our system and site data are accessible to first responders through dedicated remote and on-site controls.

Local training

We proactively reach out to fire departments before we begin construction on our projects. We provide site-specific information, including education, manuals, annual training, and offer resources like response-related equipment to local fire departments and first responders to ensure an appropriate response to any project emergency.

24/7 monitoring by trained personnel

Our energy storage facilities are remotely monitored 24/7 by trained personnel prepared to maintain safety and respond to emergency events.

Protected access

We only permit authorized personnel to access our facilities, just as a local utility would for its facilities. To further ensure safety, our battery enclosures cannot be physically entered.

Emergency response plans

We develop, maintain, and train using a multi-agency project-specific emergency response plan to ensure that, if there were an emergency, it is handled safely and according to best practices.

Storing electricity for when it’s needed most.

America’s electric system is in the midst of a technological transformation. Infrastructure and generation built before the computer age is retiring. Zero-emissions power sources are being built at unprecedented scale, replacing fossil fueled generation. Transportation and industrial sectors are swapping fuels for electricity. And battery storage technology provides the flexibility that makes it all work reliably and affordably.

The path to decarbonization is paved with batteries

Energy storage is essential for a power system that relies on zero-emissions energy sources.

Flexible

When charged during periods of excess solar, wind, or hydropower generation and discharged at times of high demand otherwise served by fuel-based generation, energy storage maximizes the use of renewable energy and reduces the carbon intensity of the power system. As storage provides more flexibility to the power system, fuel-based resources can also run less frequently and more efficiently, reducing emissions further.

Responsive

Batteries are the fastest resource on the grid, providing electricity instantaneously in response to sudden changes in demand or disruptions to supply. In a future with more renewables and increasingly extreme weather, quick ramping from storage will ensure continuity of service.

“With our state experiencing more frequent climate extremes such as record heat waves and droughts, it is essential to invest in innovative technologies like energy storage to make sure we can continue to reliably power the world’s 4th largest economy.”

– Elliot Mainzer

CEO of the California Independent System Operator

Building a world where every community has clean energy around the clock.

GridStor builds and operates batteries on the American power grid storing electricity to deliver when and where it is most needed.

Building a world where every community has clean energy around the clock.
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