BESS buildings
A BESS building is an engineered steel building or enclosure that houses battery energy storage equipment — battery modules and racks, power conversion units, switchgear and auxiliaries. KLY configures the structure, envelope, doors and access around the equipment layout, ventilation strategy and site design actions, and delivers it with the engineering and quality documentation the project needs.
Overview
What they do
Battery storage equipment sets the building, not the other way round. Module and rack dimensions fix the internal clear space, maintenance access fixes the door sizes and positions, the thermal and ventilation strategy fixes the louvre openings, and the site's separation and fire strategy fixes how the building sits in the compound.
Because those inputs arrive from several equipment vendors at once, the value is in one engineered building configured around them — a defined structure, envelope, access and documentation package that the electrical and civils contractors can build to.
Building types
Buildings in this range
Walk-in battery buildings
Buildings with internal access aisles for battery racks and modules, configured for rack layouts, maintenance clearances and the required ventilation openings.
PCS and inverter buildings
Buildings housing power conversion systems, inverters and associated equipment, with openings, penetrations and access coordinated to the electrical layout.
Switchgear and control buildings
Buildings for MV/LV switchgear, protection, metering and control equipment, configured to the equipment footprint and cable entry strategy.
Auxiliary and store buildings
Smaller buildings for spares, welfare and site equipment across a storage compound, matched to the main buildings for finish and specification.
Acoustically-treated enclosures
Enclosures where the compound has a noise condition, with attenuation provisions, louvre sizing and envelope build-up coordinated to the acoustic consultant's criteria.
Where used
Typical projects
- —Grid-scale battery energy storage sites
- —Co-located solar-plus-storage schemes
- —Industrial and commercial behind-the-meter storage
- —Substation and grid connection compounds
- —EV charging hubs with battery buffering
To quote
What to send for a quotation
Drawings are welcome but not required to start. Whatever you have of the following is enough for a first quotation:
- —Site location — for wind, snow and exposure
- —Battery and equipment datasheets, or the supplier and model
- —Compound layout or a sketch of where the building sits
- —Ventilation, thermal or acoustic requirements if already defined
- —Any fire, separation or planning conditions that affect the building
- —Required delivery window and site access constraints
Documentation
Certification & documentation
Structural steelwork is manufactured under EN 1090 through qualified production partners, with the execution class set per project and certification held by the production partner. Every building is supplied with a project document pack:
- —Declaration of Performance (DoP)
- —CE / UKCA marking documentation
- —Material test certificates (EN 10204 3.1)
- —Welding procedure and welder qualification records
- —Inspection and dimensional check reports
- —Galvanising or coating certificates
- —General arrangement and structural drawings
- —Packing lists and delivery documentation
Delivery
How KLY delivers it
KLY provides the complete building, from requirement to delivery: specification, system configuration, engineering, documentation and project delivery. Manufacture is through qualified production partners under EN 1090, and installation is completed by your appointed contractor.
See engineering & documentation for the full delivery route, the energy infrastructure overview, or KLY Building Systems for what the system includes.
FAQ
BESS buildings — common questions
A BESS building is a steel building or enclosure housing battery energy storage equipment — modules, racks, power conversion units and auxiliaries. It is configured around the equipment layout, access and ventilation requirements, and comes with the structural and quality documentation the project needs.
Yes. Equipment datasheets and layout drawings are the normal starting point: clear internal dimensions, door sizes and positions, cable entries and ventilation openings are all set from them.
Hot-dip galvanising to EN ISO 1461 is the usual specification for outdoor energy sites, giving a long maintenance-free design life. Duplex systems — galvanising plus paint — are supplied where a specific colour or additional durability is required.
Every building is engineered before it is manufactured, and the engineering and documentation are issued with it. Deliverables and design responsibility are agreed for the project before manufacture.
The building system covers the building itself — structure, envelope, doors, access and the engineering and documentation issued with it — configured around the equipment inside. Batteries, power conversion, switchgear, cabling and commissioning are delivered by your appointed contractors. If your requirement spans wider than the building, ask: scope is agreed per project.
Yes. A building configured once can be released in phases across multiple sites — same specification, same document pack on every delivery, sequenced to each site's programme.