A couple of years ago IEC founded the committee IEC TC 120 for the electrical energy storage system standardization. The committee assembled for its fifth meeting on 13th October in Frankfurt alongside the IEC General Meeting. The meeting was attended by 35 representatives from 19 countries, of which half were from outside Europe. In its work the committee focuses specifically on systems requirements for electrical energy storage, not device requirements, so its operation closely relates to that of committee TC 8; systems aspects for electrical energy supply. The committees creating standards for battery and fuel cell, power electronics, power grid remote control systems as well as solar and wind power generation systems are also adjacent to the committees’ field. This was the first time there was Finnish representation in the IEC TC 120 meeting.

Four Proposals Still for Vote This Year

The committee is operating actively and the projects have moved forward so that the following publications are still to come for vote this year:

  • Standard proposal IEC 62933-2-1, terminology for the electrical energy storage systems; the finalised terminology standard is due to be published in the summer of 2017.
  • Standard proposal IEC 62933-2-1, general specification of unit parameters and testing methods for electrical energy storage systems.
  • Technical specifications IEC/TS 62933-4-1 on the environmental issues relating to electrical energy storage systems.
  • Technical specification IEC/TS 62933-5-1 on safety considerations.

Projects in Preparatory Stage

Standard 62933-3-1 on system planning and installation has not progressed according to plan and the committee draft is coming out for vote in November 2016. Project on the safety considerations related to batteries, IEC 62933-5-2, was started despite of the, i.a., Finnish opposition. Based on our comments, the project will now concentrate on safety issues relating to others than the batteries themselves, and the co-operation with the battery committee has started. The division has been determined so that the battery committee is in charge of the batteries and their management systems (BMS), and TC 22 has the power electronics connected to the batteries, such as the inverters. Committee TC 120 oversees the safety of the entity. Although the UPS systems are clearly excluded from the TC 120 committee’s scope, it is unlikely that the crossover between the committees can completely be avoided. Therefore, the activity of the committee IEC TC 120 should be closely followed also in the SESKO product committees.

Further information on the subject from Juha Vesa (SESKO office).

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