Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) Commissioning: Reaching COD safely and efficiently
During energy storage project commissioning, every team involved feels the heat:
- For the EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) team, it’s their final stretch of construction and they’re eager to finish.
- For the project developer, commissioning is the culmination of years of piecing a project together and they want to start seeing returns on their investment.
- For the storage integrator, this is the focal point of their work: when they bring the whole system online and ensure that it can operate as specified.
The challenges of commissioning are compounded by an often-compressed timeline caused by construction delays, unforeseen equipment problems, and the complexity of bringing many systems online simultaneously.
This is the time when a system integrator can make all the difference in ensuring the developer’s BESS delivers on its energy goals and hits its revenue targets. It is crucial to have an experienced team to navigate and complete the commissioning process. With a decade of experience, IHI Terrasun can resolve potential issues safely, accurately, cost effectively, and as quickly as possible so the project can reach the Commercial Operation Date (COD).
Safety First
For every project, safety is IHI Terrasun’s top priority. The team performs engineering evaluations on all commissioning activities per NFPA 70E to ensure that Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) matches the task at hand. Our safety protocols require peer reviews to ensure all employees comply with the relevant evaluations. We work with the project developer and EPC to develop comprehensive site safety plans and restricted access during commissioning.
At the start of every day, the IHI Terrasun team talks through the day’s expected work, including the review of safety procedures to make sure everyone knows their role and is aware of nearby site hazards. Knowledge and proper planning are vital to keeping personnel safe during commissioning. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) should be relied upon only as the last line of defense.
What Happens During the Testing and Commissioning Process?
Step 0: Multi-Level Simulation
Before commissioning even starts, we, as the system integrator, have completed a multi-level simulation of the system components and their interoperability. The control boards of the batteries and inverters are tested in the IHI Terrasun simulation environment. We also run software-based testing to ensure that IHI Terrasun’s proprietary Assured Controlstm software interfaces correctly and responds appropriately to equipment faults and errors.
Step 1: Prep the Site and Cold Commissioning
The IHI Terrasun field team is on site and ready when field personnel from the battery and inverter vendors arrive for Cold Commissioning. The teams examine all site equipment and installation work after mechanical completion to verify integrity. Any new issues noted with installation work are passed back to the construction crews to streamline future equipment turnover.
Once the mechanical completion has been verified, the IHI Terrasun team works with all vendors to perform a comprehensive Cold Commissioning review of all equipment to ensure successful startup during Hot Commissioning. Attention to detail is key to avoid any unforeseen issues during energization.
Given the international supply chains that flow into solar and BESS projects, commissioning often includes multiple teams from different vendors working in silos to complete their specific scope of work. IHI Terrasun excels at integrating and leading these teams to jointly solve problems, find efficient solutions, and support each other to achieve the overall project schedule and goals.
Step 2: Check power plant controls software and site network
An important parallel to checking the physical hardware installation is ensuring that the equipment can communicate with IHI Terrasun’s Assured Controls power plant software. Each piece of equipment, from inverters to the meters, must be able to send and in most cases, receive information or commands from the power plant controller. Without a stable connection to all devices on the project, the site cannot operate effectively. Both aspects of the network are checked: the physical wire connections between equipment and the registration of the equipment by the power plant controller. This is also the time when data management – which is in parallel with but separate from controls – is checked and verified.
While this time focuses on SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisitions) completion and verification, it’s integral and intertwined with Cold Commissioning and Hot Commissioning because continuous verification and testing is ongoing during this stage as well.
Step 3: Hot Commissioning
Once Cold Commissioning is completed and the IHI Terrasun field engineers have verified that all vendors have completed required tests and checklists, equipment can be powered on for Hot Commissioning. Safety during this process is paramount, and IHI Terrasun follows strict lock-out tag-out (LOTO) protocols.
Energization of BESS is a complicated and complex step that must be done in careful coordination between all vendors. IHI Terrasun brings teams together to solve problems , find efficient solutions, and support each other to achieve the overall project schedule and goals. Our remote engineering teams work with field engineers to bring up all network and communication equipment, verify functionality, and begin integration of the system into the power plant controller (PPC).
At this stage the PPC begins operation and control of the site. The PPC is the main “brain” for the site and routes most of the site data between various devices, servers, and cloud-based analytic programs. The Assured Controls software manages and tunes all aspects of the system to ensure optimal site performance.
Once the thorough testing and Hot Commissioning processes have been completed for individual pieces of equipment, the process is repeated for whole blocks, and then for the whole site at once. The commissioning process is usually completed with a series of capacity and performance tests that have been approved for the project by the utility, the project owner and IHI Terrasun. Comprehensive and successful testing is essential to show all key stakeholders that the project has been completed and operates per expectations.
While the description outlined above shows concrete sequential steps for commissioning on large energy storage projects with many blocks, these steps may happen in parallel with additional support teams. This effectively utilizes the time spent on site and maximizes use of the team’s time.
Field Engineering Support After the Project Reaches COD
After the project reaches COD, the IHI Terrasun field engineering team transitions from commissioning to a long-term Assured Operations and Maintenance (O&M) services team. It is crucial that every project is prepared for years of successful operation because the clean energy future depends on battery projects running for decades to stabilize the electricity grid.
The Importance of Leveraging an Experienced Team
Given the number of highly complex processes and devices that are included in a project, problems during commissioning are inevitable. Expert integration teams can leverage the knowledge and expertise they’ve acquired from previously successful projects. IHI Terrasun’s commissioning team has completed the process with several different battery manufacturers and multiple inverter models, thus they can ensure that any needed troubleshooting can be handled efficiently and safely.
