What is Battery Energy Storage Systems?
- Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are advanced technologies that store electrical energy in batteries for later use, capturing energy from sources like solar panels or wind turbines.
- These systems are crucial for a cleaner, smarter, and more reliable power grid, replacing the need for expensive gas- and coal-powered “peaker” plants that struggle during extreme weather.
- BESS act as backup generators, ensuring power stability during disruptions caused by severe storms or heat waves.
- Lithium-ion batteries — the same technology used in phones and electric vehicles — are currently the leading solution for large-scale energy storage, helping to stabilize the grid and support reliable renewable energy.
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Take offshore wind, for example. The UK has more offshore wind power than any other country, but storing that energy for use when it's needed most makes it even more valuable.
Major Benefits of Battery Storage
1. Save on Electric Bills
As energy prices continue to rise, battery storage can help keep costs down. These systems charge up when electricity is cheapest, then power your home or business during peak hours — when rates are higher. This reduces peak charges and helps lower your overall bills.
2. Clean Power, Anytime You Need It
Battery storage plays a vital role in making sure our homes and businesses can stay powered by clean energy — even when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.
3. Making Clean Energy More Reliable
Battery storage helps capture extra power when the wind is strong and then delivers it when demand is high — boosting reliability, supporting more renewable energy production, and helping lower costs over time.
4. Cleaner AirBattery storage reduces our reliance on polluting gas and coal plants, helping communities breathe easier.
Ørsted Large-Scale with UK Battery Storage Project
Is BESS Safe?
- Yes, battery storage systems are very safe. These systems must adhere to strict federal, state, and local safety requirements for power plants. BESS uses the same technology found in many widely used consumer products, tools and electric vehicles. According to cleanpower.org BESS Safety factsheet The U.S. battery energy storage industry uses a suite of important certifications and standards that guide the safe design, installation, and operation of battery energy storage facilities.
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BESS Expanding in 2024
- Research shows that the total U.S. battery storage capacity is expected to double in 2024 alone. “Clean energy storage facts,” cleanpower.org “U.S. battery storage capacity expected to nearly double in 2024,” eia.gov
- The reality of battery storage is that it is most useful to what it is closest to. To get the full benefit of battery storage––a cleaner, cheaper, more reliable power grid––the storage facilities need to be located near power substations, the local nodes of the grid, and that means putting them near where people live and work. Many critical infrastructure sites around the country like hospitals are themselves installing their own microgrids, including battery storage, for just this reason.
- The state of Wisconsin recently launched its first large utility-scale battery storage project which would provide enough power to more than 130,000 homes for four hours.
The state’s first large utility-scale battery storage project came online in southeastern Wisconsin in June 2025 at the Paris Solar-Battery Park in Kenosha County.
Additional Sources to learn more from:
- Stanford University Energy Learning Series- Energy Storage
- Environmental and Energy Study Institute- Energy Storage Factsheet
- Clean Grid Alliance- BESS Factsheet
- Stanford University- Fast Facts about Energy Storage
- Indiana Office of Energy Development- Fact page
- Wisconsin’s first large-scale battery storage system comes online in Kenosha County
- University of Michigan's Center for Sustainable Systems- Energy Storage Factsheet
- University of Massachusetts Amherst- BESS Factsheet
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