Before buying a battery, write its job description

Battery proposals are easier to compare when the buyer has defined the service required. Capacity figures alone do not explain whether a system fits a facility’s operating needs, integration constraints or commercial arrangement.

Start with the service

Identify the intended priority: supporting a critical load, shifting energy between periods or another specified function. If the proposal combines services, ask the engineering team to explain how they interact and which one takes priority when requirements conflict.

ClimateCred recommends documenting the load, required power, duration, operating window and reliability expectations. These are inputs for professional assessment, not a substitute for detailed electrical design.

Distinguish power from duration

Ask what output the system needs to deliver and for how long under the proposed conditions. A specification should make the service requirement understandable to operations, engineering and finance.

Record assumptions about the starting state, permitted operating range and conditions that could limit delivery. Have the supplier explain how its proposal addresses those assumptions. Keep the explanation with the offer so later revisions remain comparable.

Include the integration work

Review the controls, protection, monitoring and site interfaces needed for the intended service. Identify who owns design coordination, commissioning and the operating response to faults. Clarify the documentation and training required at handover.

An equipment quotation may not describe every site-level responsibility. Ask for exclusions and unresolved design dependencies to be stated explicitly. Use qualified specialists for the site-specific engineering and safety assessment.

Test the commercial case

The IEA’s Electricity 2026 report discusses storage’s role in flexibility. A specific facility still needs a business case based on its own demand and applicable arrangements.

ClimateCred recommends testing the proposed operating pattern against tariff or contract assumptions, operating constraints and warranty conditions. State what would change if the system is used differently from the model. Do not assign a benefit twice when two proposed services depend on the same available capacity.

Agree how performance will be reviewed

Define the records needed to evaluate the system after commissioning. Decide who will review performance, investigate exceptions and approve changes to operation. Preserve the original use case so actual experience can be compared with the decision basis.

Before requesting another offer, write a one-page job description for the battery and have operations, engineering and finance review it together. ClimateCred can help frame the questions that connect a technology proposal to a clear business need.

Source context: IEA Electricity 2026: Flexibility. The site-level review steps are ClimateCred’s recommendations.

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