Everything You Need To Know About Developing Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are fast becoming one of the most critical enablers in utility-scale energy development. Whether deployed alongside solar or as standalone infrastructure, BESS helps developers unlock project viability in areas facing curtailment, congestion, or limited grid headroom.

By storing energy and dispatching it when grid conditions or market prices are most favorable, BESS strengthens the economics of solar projects, improves grid reliability, and opens up new development strategies, from co-located hybrids to battery-first grid plays.

And the market is scaling fast:

• Global utility-scale BESS capacity is expected to grow more than 15x between 2023 and 2030, from 28 GW to over 400 GW, according to BloombergNEF.
  
  
• In the U.S., over 1 in 3 new interconnection applications now include a battery component, based on 2024 data from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
  
  
• Europe’s total installed storage capacity could exceed 200 GWh by 2030, with the UK, Germany, and Spain leading the charge.

But battery storage brings new layers of complexity. Developers must evaluate grid injection points, navigate evolving permitting rules, model site layouts with fire setbacks and access roads, understand extremely complex business cases, and move quickly in an increasingly competitive landscape.

This guide is your complete introduction to utility-scale BESS development. Whether you’re exploring battery add-ons for existing PV sites or targeting standalone opportunities near substations, you'll learn:

• What a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is and how utility-scale developers use them
  
• Why BESS demand is accelerating globally and how policy, economics, and grid pressure are shaping the market
  
  
• What makes a site suitable for BESS, including grid proximity, zoning, and co-location potential
  
  
• How to evaluate BESS early in your development process and why timing is critical
  
  
• How Glint Solar supports BESS developers with site screening, layout design, and reporting tools
  
  
• Frequently asked questions

Let’s get into it.

What is a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)?

A Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is a system that captures electrical energy, either from the grid or from an on-site generation source like a solar array, and stores it for later use. While that may sound simple, the impact on utility-scale energy development is anything but.

At scale, BESS enables developers to decouple energy production from consumption, providing flexibility in how and when energy is delivered to the grid. This ability to shift energy in time is increasingly valuable in a world where solar generation is abundant during the day but demand and pricing peak in the evening.

How BESS Works

Most utility-scale battery systems consist of modular, containerized units that store energy chemically and convert it back to electrical energy on demand. The key components of a BESS include:

• Battery modules: Typically lithium-ion cells, arranged in racks or containers, that chemically store and release energy through reversible reactions.
  
  
• Inverters: Convert the battery’s direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC) for grid use, and vice versa during charging.
  
  
• Battery Management System (BMS): Monitors cell temperature, voltage, and charge levels to ensure performance, safety, and lifespan.
  
  
• Thermal management: Heating and cooling systems (often HVAC-based) are crucial for maintaining battery performance, especially in high-temperature regions.
  
  
• Fire suppression systems: Utility-scale systems require integrated safety mechanisms to mitigate fire or thermal runaway risks.
  
  
• Energy Management System (EMS): Orchestrates how and when the system charges, discharges, and responds to market or grid operator signals.
  
  
• Transformers: Raise the voltage to match the necessary level for grid use (and vice versa)

Once installed, a BESS can operate in several modes: charging from solar or the grid when electricity is abundant or cheap, storing it for hours or days, and discharging when prices are high, demand spikes, or curtailment would otherwise limit generation.

The flexibility offered by this “time-shifting” function is why batteries are rapidly becoming a default consideration, not an afterthought, in utility-scale project design.

Understanding Battery Chemistries and System Types

While most utility-scale developers default to lithium-ion, battery chemistry and system configuration are becoming more strategic considerations, especially in markets exploring long-duration storage or non-lithium alternatives.

Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) is currently the dominant choice for grid-scale applications. It offers a compelling mix of energy density, thermal stability, long cycle life, and increasingly mature global supply chains. LFP’s performance is well understood, making it the go-to option for most developers building 1 to 4 hour storage assets.

Sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a lower-cost, lower-density alternative to lithium. While not yet widely deployed at utility scale, they could become a viable option for developers working on sites with fewer space constraints and cost-sensitive business models.

Flow batteries (e.g. vanadium redox or zinc-bromine) separate power and energy components, enabling 6–12+ hour storage with low degradation. While their footprint and CapEx are higher, they’re well-suited for applications with clearly monetizable long-duration needs.

Why BESS Demand Is Accelerating

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are entering a rapid expansion phase across Europe. As solar deployment surges and grid access tightens, storage is becoming essential, not just to unlock revenue, but to get projects built at all.

Several converging factors are driving this shift:

1. Grid Congestion Is Limiting Solar-Only Viability

Europe’s transmission infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with the rise of renewables. In markets like Spain, Germany, and France, developers are increasingly blocked by saturated substations, limited queue capacity, and long approval timelines.

Adding BESS to a project can improve grid compatibility, allow for hybrid queue applications, and make better use of constrained nodes.

2. Revenue Models Are Evolving Beyond Fixed PPAs

Price cannibalization during midday hours is a growing problem across Europe. Day-ahead market volatility and negative prices are eroding solar-only margins. Batteries offer a flexible way to shift generation into higher-value hours and tap into new revenue streams like capacity payments and ancillary services.

3. Regulatory Momentum Is Accelerating

EU member states are aligning around a clear role for storage in their energy transition strategies. Under the REPowerEU plan, storage is recognised as a key enabler of system flexibility, with funding made available through Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) grants.

In Germany, the new electricity storage strategy published in 2024 outlines a roadmap for removing regulatory barriers, including double grid fees and permitting delays (BMWK). France and Italy are similarly moving to support storage as a standalone asset class with simplified permitting and capacity market access.

4. Storage Expands What’s Buildable

BESS unlocks new project configurations. Developers can retrofit battery systems near existing PV plants or substations, use batteries to relieve grid bottlenecks, or deploy small-scale standalone BESS close to demand centers.

This flexibility is helping more projects reach notice to proceed. Storage not only increases the chance of grid acceptance, it can also reduce permitting risk and improve project bankability by smoothing revenue profiles.

Grid Pressure Is Changing Project Feasibility

In Europe, growing grid congestion and curtailment risk are making battery storage essential to securing interconnection. In the UK, connection delays of 10–15 years are now common in parts of the distribution network, prompting developers to add BESS specifically to secure grid access (Solar Power Portal, 2023). 

Germany and Spain are also seeing increased pressure. In 2023, Spain’s grid operator REE temporarily paused new interconnection applications due to over-saturation in solar-heavy regions like Extremadura and Andalusia.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the trend is even more pronounced. According to Berkeley Lab (2024), over 2,600 GW of capacity is currently stuck in interconnection queues, with battery components present in more than one-third of new applications. In markets like California and Texas, hybrid or storage-first designs are often the only path forward.

Revenue models for BESS are diversifying

Battery storage no longer depends on a single revenue stream. In most active markets, BESS can generate income through some combination of:

• Arbitrage (buy low, sell high)
• Capacity payments (UK, PJM, ISO-NE)
• Ancillary services (ERCOT, CAISO, REE)
• Curtailment avoidance (especially in Spain, Chile, and parts of Australia)
  
  

In hybrid projects, storage also helps developers secure stronger PPA terms by flattening production profiles and reducing the risk of clipped energy. Several developers using Glint Solar now assess hybrid design options in the same interface they use for land and grid screening—accelerating both feasibility and internal alignment.

Learn how utility-scale developers accelerate BESS site screening with layout-first workflows, real-time constraint mapping, and stakeholder-ready visuals.

Regulatory Frameworks Are Catching Up

Across the U.S. and Europe, public support for storage is no longer theoretical, it’s codified in law and embedded in procurement programs:

• U.S. Investment Tax Credit (ITC): 30% credit now available for standalone storage, with additional location-based adders
  
  
• Spain’s PERTE program: Over €150M in grants supporting hybrid and storage-first development
  
  
• Germany’s innovation tenders: Favor storage co-location and grid flexibility
  
  
• UK regulatory updates: Revised Capacity Market rules and new grid services (e.g. Dynamic Containment) improve ROI for standalone BESS

For developers, these changes are impacting everything from sizing strategy to financial modeling. What used to be optional is now expected, especially in competitive PPA or capacity auction environments.

Market Snapshot: Where BESS Is Gaining Momentum

What Makes a Site Suitable for BESS?

Battery storage opens up more siting flexibility than solar but that doesn’t mean every parcel is viable. For a BESS project to move from concept to commissioning, it needs the right combination of grid access, land conditions, permitting environment, and technical feasibility.

This section walks through the key factors project developers evaluate during early-stage BESS screening.

1. Proximity to Substations With Available Capacity

Grid interconnection is the first gating factor. Most standalone BESS projects are sited within as close as possible to a substation. The farther the line extension, the higher the cost, permitting complexity, and voltage drop (line losses) risk. Some key considerations:

• Identify substations with remaining injection or withdrawal capacity
• Prioritize medium- and high-voltage nodes (33kV, 132kV, etc.)
• Find suitable parcels based on distance thresholds (e.g. <1km from viable node)
• Avoid congested interconnection points or multi-year queue backlogs

2. Permitting, Zoning, and Land Use Classification

Permitting requirements for BESS are highly variable and often less mature than solar rules. In many jurisdictions, batteries are classified as industrial infrastructure, which may restrict siting on agricultural or residential-zoned land.

Key considerations include:

• Fire safety codes: Local regulations may require 10–20m setbacks from containers to property lines, access roads, and other structures.
• Noise and vibration thresholds: Especially relevant for urban-edge or mixed-use areas.
• Hazardous materials rules: Storage of lithium-based batteries may trigger environmental review.
• Land classification: Some municipalities may block or delay permitting for energy infrastructure on greenbelt or protected land types.

3. Flat, Accessible Terrain With Minimal Environmental Constraints

Unlike PV arrays, battery systems don’t need to follow the sun. But they do require flat, compacted terrain and heavy equipment access for installation and long-term O&M.

Ideal BESS parcels tend to share a few characteristics:

• <5% slope and minimal grading needs
• Accessible by existing roads or with simple access road build-out
• Outside flood zones, wetlands, or protected environmental areas
• Not within high-fire risk zones unless mitigation measures are feasible

4. Co-Location Potential With Solar or Other Energy Assets

Developers may turn to hybrid project structures to maximize grid usage and minimize infrastructure cost.

Typical co-location scenarios include:

• New greenfield solar + storage projects where a single interconnection application covers both assets
• Retrofit BESS on existing PV sites where curtailment is eating into yield
• Shared substation builds between wind, solar, and battery portfolios

5. Repurposing Brownfield or Grid-Adjacent Parcels

Not every viable BESS project starts with pristine land. In fact, some of the fastest-moving storage projects are being built on or near:

• Former peaker plants or substations with decommissioned capacity
• Utility-owned grid access points with surplus land
• Previously failed or shelved solar project parcels

Discover what makes a site ideal for battery storage and learn how to screen land for BESS based on zoning, grid access, terrain, and permitting constraints.

When Should You Evaluate BESS Potential?

Many developers still wait too long to evaluate BESS feasibility. Storage is often something to consider after solar layouts are finalized or interconnection requests are submitted.

But by that point, it’s often too late.

The best battery sites are highly time-sensitive. Substation headroom disappears fast. Landowners move on. Queue positions get filled. And once a site has been internally deprioritized, bringing it back costs time and momentum.

That’s why experienced teams now evaluate BESS at the same time they screen for solar viability, or even before.

Here’s how forward-thinking developers are integrating BESS into the earliest project stages:

By building BESS into early-stage workflows, teams create optionality: they can move forward as solar-only, storage-only, or hybrid - depending on how permitting, PPA, and grid timelines unfold.

How Glint Solar Supports BESS Developers

Battery storage introduces more complexity than solar, from interconnection challenges to noise regulations and tighter setback rules. Glint Solar equips developers to navigate these hurdles earlier, faster, and with more precision.

Here’s how:

1. Grid-Informed Site Discovery

Why it matters: Interconnection access is often the single greatest bottleneck in utility-scale storage development. With queue timelines stretching into years and substation headroom disappearing quickly, the ability to find viable grid nodes, before investing in land or permitting, is now a critical advantage.

Glint Solar puts grid visibility directly into the hands of development teams, helping them move faster and smarter from day one.

What you can do:

• Visualize substations and overhead lines by voltage level (e.g. 33kV, 132kV)

• Filter for proximity thresholds to grid nodes (e.g. within 1km)

• Flag capacity-constrained or congested zones using custom overlays

• Identify optimal interconnection points before engaging landowners

2. Real-Time Constraint Mapping

Why it matters: A site that looks promising on the surface can unravel quickly when terrain, zoning, or fire code constraints come into play. Too often, developers discover permitting blockers only after weeks of analysis, or worse, during landowner or stakeholder conversations.

Glint Solar lets teams surface critical constraints early, bringing environmental, regulatory, and terrain filters into one interactive map, so that only viable parcels move forward.

What you can do:

• Apply slope filters and terrain rules to flag unbuildable areas

• Overlay zoning, fire, noise, and environmental exclusions

• Visualize floodplains, wetlands, and protected habitats

• Save and reuse no-go zones and permitting filters across projects

Want to see the full webinar? Click here!

3. Instant, Pre-Engineering Layout Design

Why it matters: Most layout work is still locked inside engineering departments, creating costly bottlenecks that slow feasibility checks and delay stakeholder alignment. But for repeatable systems like 2-hour or 4-hour lithium-ion containers, teams shouldn't need to wait.

Glint Solar enables fast, flexible layout design that mirrors real-world constraints so development teams can validate buildability upfront, without CAD or custom scripting.

What you can do:

• Generate layouts using pre-built templates for common BESS setups

• Apply automatic fire safety and noise setbacks

• Adjust container spacing, density, and orientation to fit parcel shape

• Export directly to AutoCAD or PDF with container-level precision

4. Integrated Noise Modeling

Why it matters: Noise compliance is becoming one of the most sensitive permitting hurdles for standalone and hybrid BESS projects, particularly in suburban or residential-adjacent zones. Without early noise modeling, developers risk advancing sites that later face community pushback or outright rejection.

Glint Solar brings noise simulation directly into the design phase, helping teams model, mitigate, and communicate noise risk from the start.

What you can do:

• Simulate decibel levels for containerized equipment and inverters

• Add and model the impact of sound walls in real time

• Visualize compliance zones and export noise overlays for permitting

• Flag risk near sensitive land uses (e.g. schools, housing, hospitals)

Read more about Glint Solar's Preliminary Noise Modeling for BESS Projects here.

5. Stakeholder-Ready Visualizations

Why it matters: Battery storage layouts can be hard to explain, especially to landowners, planners, or local officials unfamiliar with containerized energy infrastructure. Flat PDFs or static maps often fail to convey the safety buffers, access routes, or operational intent behind a design.

Glint Solar helps developers generate clear, annotated visuals and 3D layouts that build trust, reduce friction, and move conversations forward with less back-and-forth.

What you can do:

• Export annotated layout maps with setback zones and routing

• Generate 3D visualizations of battery layouts and MV stations

• Show daily state-of-charge and degradation curves

• Create PDF reports for landowners, municipalities, and RFPs

6. Seamless Cross-Team Collaboration

Why it matters: Even the best tools fall short if teams work in silos. In many organizations, feasibility data, parcel notes, and layout drafts are scattered across emails, folders, and disconnected GIS platforms, making it hard to track progress or align around next steps.

Glint Solar creates a shared project environment where land, GIS, commercial, and permitting teams can collaborate on the same data, at the same time, without version confusion or duplicated effort.

What you can do:

• Organize projects by status, market, or priority

• Share notes, layouts, and constraint data in a single workspace

• Track PV, BESS, and hybrid project configurations side-by-side

• Reduce duplicate work and streamline internal approvals

Final Thoughts: Moving Faster with Confidence in BESS Development

Battery Energy Storage Systems are no longer optional, they’re a core component of modern utility-scale energy strategy. As grid access tightens and project economics hinge on flexibility, developers that integrate BESS early are outpacing those that treat storage as an add-on.

But batteries bring new challenges. Zoning rules are stricter. Site layouts are more constrained. And timelines are tighter than ever.

The most successful development teams are adapting by evolving their workflows, screening for BESS earlier, aligning across teams faster, and equipping non-engineers with tools to validate feasibility from day one.

Glint Solar helps make this shift possible. From grid-informed land discovery to fire-safe layout simulation, our platform enables developers to de-risk decisions, streamline internal collaboration, and accelerate time to site control and queue submission.

If battery storage is part of your strategy, make sure your process can keep pace. Start screening smarter and build a BESS pipeline that’s ready to deliver.