Sound immission measurement for battery storage (BESS) and grid facilities
Sound immission measurement for battery storage (BESS): we determine the noise level to standard and supply data for the noise permit.
We listen closely, whatever the surroundings of your project. With our measurements for the noise approval of battery energy storage systems (BESS), you always know where the noise level at your site really lies. We record it reliably and support you in complying with noise protection requirements.
The background: the operating noise of a battery storage system is continuous noise that can occur around the clock, mainly from cooling fans, inverters and transformers. Plant approval procedures therefore examine noise protection, in the electricity-law procedure as a separate field of expertise, and assess the noise situation at the nearest residential areas. The yardstick is the change in local conditions, that is, the actual baseline situation on site. Approved plants already in the surroundings also form part of this baseline. Nuisances such as noise, vibration, heat or glare must be limited to a reasonable level, judged by the healthy, normally sensitive person. Under the commercial-installation law of the Trade Act (Gewerbeordnung), local custom is not mentioned; the decisive factor there is likewise the change in the actual local conditions, and building-services installations in the neighbourhood form part of the baseline.
The baseline level provides exactly this starting situation. We determine it to standard and thus obtain reliable data on the existing noise exposure at the immission point and therefore the starting situation for the assessment under documented environmental conditions. The usual approach is to determine the baseline level LA,95 and compare it with the continuous operating noise; a mere zoning-based baseline level is not sufficient for this. The locally prevailing immission can be measured over a representative period, meteorological conditions must be taken into account, and any correction factors applied must be justified conclusively. Measurement takes place in the daytime or night-time period, with wind conditions and other environmental conditions being documented. If operating times fall within the core night period from 0 to 5 a.m., this most unfavourable assessment period is treated separately. The measurement campaign is carried out by our accredited testing body, the EWS Testing Center, with calibrated, high-precision sensors. The measurement of sound immissions in the neighbourhood, for example at business premises, is described in ÖNORM S 5004; its results serve for planning noise protection measures and assessing noise nuisance.
The measurement also matters for planning. A commercial zone or a mixed-use zone tolerates only plants whose immissions suit the respective zoning category, and spatial planning applies guide values for day (6 a.m. to 7 p.m.), evening (7 to 10 p.m.) and night (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.). Those who take noise requirements into account early avoid delays in preliminary design and permit planning. The measurement data are the basis for the operational noise report for storage and grid. In operation, noise emission measurement for storage and grid complements it. The land-use designation is clarified by the expert contributions to the rezoning procedure (rezoning under Austrian spatial planning law). For central PV inverters, see sound immission measurement for photovoltaic.
