Addressing recent speculation, Standards Australia has announced it is not developing standards that will ban the introduction of on-site lithium-ion battery storage in Australian homes.

Standards Australia is working with stakeholders to develop a new draft Australia Standard AS/NZS 5139 Electrical Installations – safety of battery systems to be used in inverter energy systems that will enable the safe installation of battery energy storage systems.

The draft document will contain provisions for installation requirements for all battery systems connected to inverter energy systems (covering all battery types), mitigating hazards associated with battery energy storage system installations and classifying batteries based on hazards and not chemistry type.

The draft will be released for a nine week period of public comment to give all stakeholders an opportunity to comment on the proposed standard. All comments will be considered by the representative technical committee, EL- 042 Renewable Energy Power Supply Systems & Equipment, which is comprised of stakeholders from all sectors with an interest in this work, including the renewable energy sector. Public comment is scheduled for April 2017 but this is subject to change.

A formal ballot will be undertaken as the work progresses to ensure there is sufficient community consensus to proceed with the development of the document as an Australian Standard.

Standards Australia says further speculation of a ‘ban on on-site storage’ by them is inaccurate and misleading. The use of all Australian standards is voluntary and governments may choose to reference standards and other documents in regulation.