Storage

Report: Quality assurance and monitoring could prevent most battery storage failures

Report: Quality assurance and monitoring could prevent most battery storage failures
Powin's 88 MW/387 MWh battery storage project in California. The BESS is paired with a solar farm. (Courtesy: Powin)

A new report alleges most battery energy storage system (BESS) failures could be prevented by quality assurance and battery monitoring.

TWAICE, a provider of battery analytics software, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) published their joint study: an analysis of the root causes of BESS failures.

The report draws primarily from EPRI’s BESS Failure Event Database to categorize failure incidents by cause and failed element. Of the 81 events in the database, 26 had sufficient information to establish a root cause. TWAICE engineers worked with EPRI and PNNL to classify these failures, determine causes, and categorize them.

Credit: Electric Power Research Institute

Their findings ultimately showed that many BESS failures can be prevented with better quality assurance and battery monitoring. The engineers determined only three failures could be traced to defects on the cell or module, which researchers said underscored the need for tools that enable improved commissioning and operational analysis of the entire system.

“Understanding the reasons behind battery storage failures is critical for preventing them, which is why we’re pleased to help create the first-ever public analysis of BESS incidents by cause,” said Ryan Franks, Senior Engineer at TWAICE. “The report emphasizes the importance of battery analytics, with most of the failures traced to the integration and operation stages. We believe this new resource will help guide further development of analytics software that can ensure BESS safety. We’re honored to support EPRI in the publication of this report and thankful for the collaboration of their engineers and those from PNNL.”

The analysis of failure incidents indicates that, while manufacturing defects do contribute to some failures, operators must pay equal attention to potential errors during the design, integration, and operation of BESS units.

The full report can be downloaded at EPRI’s website.

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