Duke Energy has joined MESA to drive the development of communication specifications for energy storage systems.
Duke Energy joins a dozen equipment manufacturers, software suppliers, and public and private utilities, whose objective is to accelerate the growth of the energy storage industry through the development of an open, non-proprietary set of specifications and standards for energy storage systems.
MESA (Modular Energy Storage Architecture) is a non-proprietary set of specifications and standards for energy storage in development by a consortium of electric utilities and technology suppliers. The goals of the MESA Standards Alliance are to:
- Standardize communications and connections, which will accelerate interoperability and scalability of energy storage systems;
- Give electric utilities more choice by enabling multi-vendor, component-based energy storage systems;
- Reduce project-specific engineering costs, enabling a more robust energy storage market;
- Enable technology suppliers (from software developers to battery suppliers) to focus on their core competencies in producing quality, safe and cost-effective components; and
- Reduce training costs and improve safety for field staff through standardized procedures for safety and efficiency.
“Standardizing the communication architecture for energy storage systems is integral to allowing these systems to integrate into Duke’s system and expand our energy storage program. We need energy storage systems to be ‘plug and play’ to facilitate the evolving smart grid,” said Thomas Golden, Technology Development Manager at Duke Energy, “As the energy storage industry takes off and the number of component vendors proliferates, Duke is committed to being a leader in developing standards that enable both vendors and utilities to deploy systems on a shorter timeline and at a better price point for ratepayers.”
Craig Collar, board chair of the MESA Alliance and assistant general manager at Snohomish County Public Utility District stated: “Energy Storage will bring more clean energy reliably onto the grid, and developing standard communication protocols is essential to implementing storage in a seamless and cost-effective manner. We are pleased to have Duke on board; their broad industry influence will help move MESA’s efforts along.”
