Energy Storage Contract Alliance
ESCA maintains the industry's first open procurement contract for Battery Energy Storage Systems — written by buyers, for buyers. Read all clauses freely. Register to access the appendices and join the conversation.
Energy Storage
Contract Alliance
The Contract
The industry's only independent BESS procurement template. Covers pricing, specifications, quality control, commissioning, warranties, cybersecurity, and more. Free for registered members.
Clause 2 — Agreement Parties
This Agreement is entered into between [Seller], a manufacturer and supplier of BESS, and [Buyer]. Subject to approval by the third-party inspection company (Sinovoltaics Group Limited) designated by the Buyer, Buyer desires to purchase BESS from Seller under the terms set out herein.
Clause 3 — Purpose & Scope
This Agreement sets out the terms under which (i) Seller manufactures and supplies BESS to Buyer, (ii) Sinovoltaics Group Limited inspects the BESS prior to final acceptance, and (iii) Buyer purchases and pays for such BESS.
Clause 4 — Contract Price, Traceability & Cybersecurity (extract)
Seller shall provide traceable data certifying the origin of all battery cells and components within 14 days of the start of each manufacturing batch. All firmware must be verifiable via SHA-256 or equivalent. Seller must notify Buyer within 72 hours of any critical vulnerability and within 24 hours of any cybersecurity incident. NIS2 Directive and IEC 62443 compliance is mandatory.
Clause 5 — Inspection, Shipping & Delivery (extract)
All containers inspected — no sampling permitted. Acceptance Quality Limits: Critical 0, Major 0, Minor 0. No BESS shipped without a Pass Certificate from Sinovoltaics Group Limited. Late delivery liquidated damages: 0.2% per day from day 16 after the scheduled delivery period expires.
Clause 6 — Site Commissioning, Monitoring & Payment
The 16 appendices require free registration.Register with your company email to access all appendices, technical specifications, warranty schedules, and leave comments or ask questions.
Access levels
Full Members are leading organisations who help shape the direction of the contract. The contract itself is free to access for all buyers.
Visitor
Free — no registration required
Registered Member
Free
Full Member
Annual contribution to ESCA Steering Committee
Get access
Full Member enquiries will be followed up separately by the Secretariat.
Full Members
Full Members are leading BESS buyers, developers, financiers, and technical advisors who actively shape the direction of the contract. They hold a named Steering Committee seat, review amendment proposals, validate best practice, and drive the standard's evolution as the market develops.
About ESCA
BESS procurement lacks a common contractual baseline. Buyers repeatedly negotiate the same risks from scratch, against manufacturers with sophisticated contract teams and years of deal-closing experience.
ESCA exists to change that. We maintain a model BESS procurement contract encoding best-practice risk allocation, technical specifications, cybersecurity requirements, and quality assurance — updated as the market evolves.
Membership is open to buyer-side parties only. Manufacturers and sellers are not members — the contract governs their conduct, not ours. Competing inspection firms are structurally excluded. The result is a standard that is genuinely independent and genuinely useful.
ESCA is administered by Sinovoltaics Group Limited as permanent Secretariat, bringing over a decade of BESS factory inspection, technical advisory, and procurement experience to the governance of the standard.