ESS Earns UL 9540 for its Energy Center™ Platform Among Other New Certifications, Driving LDES Market Growth  

January 29, 2025

John Thomas, VP of Product Management and Strategy

Our Energy Center™ product line continues to gain momentum in the market while achieving new and important certifications. The Energy Center offers eight hours of continuous discharge at rated power, unlimited cycling, and no capacity degradation over a 25-year design life. We recently demonstrated our commitment to fire safety and the support of standardized long-duration energy storage solutions (LDES) control systems. Notably, ESS’ Energy Center has received certification to the UL 9540 standard by ETL, following the earlier certification of our Energy Warehouse in 2023. UL 9540 is a comprehensive safety standard for grid-connected energy storage systems which affirms the safety of the battery system and its environmental performance. The standard covers stationary energy storage systems for both outdoor and indoor installations.

ESS becomes the first energy storage provider to demonstrate MESA compliance and SunSpec Alliance Modbus Certification
As new LDES solutions, like ESS’ iron flow technology, continue to evolve and proliferate, there is also a growing need for standardized control systems to facilitate their connection to the grid. Demonstrating our commitment to solutions that seamlessly interface with inverters and energy management controllers, the ESS Energy Center recently passed the Modular Energy System Architecture (MESA) Standards Alliance’s MESA-Device profile test, becoming the first energy storage provider to demonstrate compliance, as well as receiving SunSpec Alliance Modbus Certification.

The MESA-Device profile test, developed jointly with SunSpec, rigorously evaluated the Energy Center’s software to confirm that it uses standardized protocols to communicate and share data between different systems and to enable clean, predictable command and control operation.

MESA certification demonstrates that the Energy Center™ product line aligns with MESA’s open and non-proprietary communication specifications for accelerating the interoperability of distributed energy resources (DER), in particular, utility-scale energy storage systems. Standardized monitoring and control communications protocols ensure seamless integration for utilities and customers.

Compatibility with the latest integration and communication standards will accelerate deployment, ultimately enabling the delivery of power where and when it’s needed. Ensuring the interoperability of ESS’ LDES systems speeds and simplifies power plant control integrations, increases operational efficiency, enables project design flexibility and scaling, and reduces customers’ costs over time.

Providing customers with safe, flexible energy solutions
Securing the MESA-Device profile certification is another feather in ESS’ cap, showcasing our iron flow technology’s ability to stay at the forefront of the sector and lead the way in meeting industry standards. It’s a testament to the ESS team’s dedication to meeting our customers’ needs by ensuring that our batteries can work together with other systems to deliver safe and flexible energy across various use cases and scenarios in a cost-effective manner.

This specification follows the Energy Center’s IEEE 693-High certification, a widely accepted seismic rating for energy infrastructure, achieved earlier this year. ESS was the first non-lithium LDES provider to receive the certification, which provides assurance that the Energy Center product line qualifies for deployment as critical infrastructure and can be relied on to deliver power during major seismic events.

ESS’s iron flow battery technology, which powers the Energy Center, offers many safety and flexibility advantages over incumbent energy storage technologies. It has a significantly lower risk of fire and uses a safe and sustainable electrolyte primarily made of iron, salt, and water, making it a superior choice for a cleaner energy future.

Driving LDES market growth
These recent certifications for the Energy Center not only highlight our commitment to safety and compliance but also position us as a leader in the evolving landscape of LDES solutions. With our innovative technology, commitment to safety and flexibility, and a focus on interoperability, we are well-prepared to meet the increasing energy demands of a clean energy future. Visit our Energy Center™ product page to learn more, review our datasheet, and determine if it’s the right fit for your next energy storage project.

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