Data centers are energy intensive facilities, and if not properly managed and maintained, their aging equipment can threaten reliability. The challenge for maintenance and engineering managers is to ensure that data centers operate reliably and efficiently so they can meet the growing demands that organizations are placing on them.
Hyperscale data centers are consuming vast amounts of electricity. NEMA’s newest standard establishes clear performance expectations for battery energy storage systems (BESS) in an effort to help data center developers, facility managers and other end users make informed decisions about BESS products to improve reliability and resilience.
The BESS Testing and Performance Measurements Standard outlines consistent methods for assessing key performance specifications of BESS to allow for easier evaluation and selection of products and to empower users to choose a storage system that best meets their facilities’ needs. Users include data center developers, manufacturers, consumers, facilities and utilities.
This standard specifies performance test procedures to be used for manufacturer specifications so these specifications can be comparable across specifications of different BESS chemistries and configurations.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
