From decision to contract: What happens in the weeks before you sign?

Most companies experience a gap between the day they start considering an industrial BESS (battery energy storage system) and the day a contract is on the table. The weeks in between are rarely described, but that is where it is decided whether the project makes sense, what needs to be agreed, and what expectations both parties bring in. A battery system is an infrastructure investment, not an off-the-shelf purchase, and the legal signature should therefore come after clarification, not before.

This article walks through what typically happens in the weeks before signing: the initial screening and go/no-go, the data the company shares early, the internal approval process, and what a contract actually covers compared with the work that only comes afterwards. The aim is expectation alignment, so the decision-maker knows what a yes entails.

Initial screening and go/no-go

The first step is a quick clarification of whether there is a basic match. The purpose is not to design the system, but to avoid both parties spending weeks on a project that fails because of a technical or legal precondition.

Two factors weigh heaviest. One is the size of the grid connection. Our standard offer typically assumes a grid connection of at least 400A, which in a standard 400V three-phase system corresponds to a power of approximately 277 kW. The figure the grid company (the local distribution system operator) calls a delivery scope (leveringsomfang) describes how much power the company is maximally entitled to draw from the grid, and it sets the framework for how large a system technically makes sense. 400A is a practical rule of thumb for us, not an official threshold, but below that level a turnkey project rarely becomes relevant. The underlying mechanisms and the grid connection itself are covered in their own article in this guide.

The second factor is whether the system can be built legally at the address. An industrial BESS occupies physical space and must be placed at an appropriate distance from, among other things, residential buildings, where the concrete distance is site-specific and is clarified further in an actual site assessment. Whether a system can be installed where the company wants it is therefore not given in advance. The physical preparation work and space requirements have their own article in the guide, so here they enter only as a go/no-go filter.

Finally, there is a product question. Our standard model as a turnkey process is built around a minimum of two modules, because that is the configuration the full coordination and market participation rest on. A company can in principle buy a single module without the full package, but that is a narrower product: here the customer handles market participation themselves, and we deliver operational documentation rather than the complete, coordinated process. The single module is therefore not the same turnkey process, and the screening clarifies early which of the two tracks is in play.

Data the company shares early

If the screening is passed, the dialogue moves on to a more concrete basis. Here it is the company's own data that determine whether the assessment becomes precise or only indicative.

The most important data foundation is consumption over time. Danish remotely read electricity meters for end users must be able to register withdrawal and delivery of electricity every 15 minutes or at shorter intervals, and for larger consumers these 15-minute interval data are passed on in the electricity system. That is a data foundation that shows the real power peaks and consumption patterns hour by hour, not only an annual total, and it is precisely the variation a battery works with. Without that type of data, any assessment of the potential becomes an estimate.

Alongside meter data, the actual size of the grid connection in amperes is central, because together with the consumption profile it shows how much technical headroom there is between the agreed delivery scope and actual consumption. In addition, a battery both draws and feeds electricity, so a connection requires that both a delivery scope and an injection scope (indfødningsomfang) are agreed with the grid company. An existing delivery scope is not in itself the same as capacity for a battery, and that is why the early data are not a formality, but what a serious assessment stands or falls with.

The customer's internal approval process

While the technical clarification is underway, an internal track typically runs in parallel at the company itself. An investment in an industrial BESS typically needs to go through a CFO and in many cases a board, and that process takes time that is not always visible from the outside.

It is useful to know this process early, because it is directly linked to when a contract can be entered into. In our model, 40 percent is paid at contract signing, before we order the system from the supplier, and the remaining 60 percent at go-live, that is when the system is put into operation. The first payment is therefore tied to the internal approval: signing can only take place, and the project can only be started, once the decision has been taken internally. The payment model itself, how it is structured, and what it assumes, is described in its own article in this guide; in this context the point is only that the internal approval process and the first payment are linked.

For the decision-maker, that means the internal work of clarifying budget, mandate, and approval can usefully run in parallel with the technical dialogue, so the two tracks meet when both are ready. The earlier the internal process is underway, the less waiting time there is when the technical assessment points to a match.

What the contract covers, and what comes afterwards

A contract sets the framework for a turnkey process: that we coordinate the parties and the steps needed to get from signing to an operational system. That includes project management, hardware, software, and coordination of the professionals who carry out the work on site. A central part of the value is that the company does not have to find and manage the individual links themselves, among other reasons because work on fixed electrical installations may only be carried out by an authorised electrical installation company.

Equally important is understanding what only happens after signing, and what cannot be guaranteed in advance. Two regulatory matters are central. One is the grid connection. In most turnkey processes we build on an existing connection and apply for an amended grid connection agreement, typically regarding injection scope and metering, rather than an entirely new physical grid connection. The grid company prepares a grid connection agreement in which delivery scope, injection scope, and connection point are fixed, and it is only once that agreement is in place that an expected commissioning date is agreed. How quickly that can happen depends primarily on the processing of the amended agreement. In exceptional cases a new connection point must be established, which may require excavation work and permits from the municipality and can stretch the process considerably. There is therefore no fixed processing time that we can promise in advance.

The second matter is the building permit. In practice it is the individual municipality that handles building cases and issues building permits, and the municipality can set local frameworks via a local plan. We prepare and handle the dialogue with the grid company and the municipality and apply for the relevant permits, but we cannot guarantee in advance either a grid approval or a building permit. That is why any timeline we work with is an indicative estimate for planning purposes, not a fixed delivery date. The contract covers coordination of the process; it cannot remove the fact that grid and authorities are independent processes with their own uncertainty.

ZynexGroup's approach to site assessment

We have structured the initial weeks in three simple steps, so it is clear what happens when. The first step is an initial dialogue, where we talk through the company's goals and preconditions and look at the desired location. The second step is a go/no-go assessment based on the two hard preconditions: a grid connection of at least 400A and an address where the system can be built legally. The third step is the contract and the first payment of 40 percent, which is due only when both parties are ready.

Throughout the process, the company has one fixed contact person with us from the first enquiry. That means the same person knows the project from the initial dialogue through ongoing coordination, and that expectation alignment is not lost along the way. Our role in the weeks before signing is not to sell a particular system, but to clarify from the company's own data whether there is a match, and to be honest about the preconditions that lie outside both our and the customer's control.

Limitations and preconditions

Even a project that passes the screening can encounter a precondition that cannot be met. The most important is the grid connection. If a sufficient grid connection cannot, contrary to expectation, be realised after a reasonable attempt, the project may end after the contract, and payments are handled as agreed in the contract. There is therefore no universal guarantee that all amounts are always repaid in every situation; handling follows the specific contractual terms.

It is also a precondition that the company can deliver the necessary data and ensure access to the site, and that the system can be built legally at the address. When a BESS is not the right solution is covered separately in the guide, and if production security, backup power, or critical loads are part of the consideration, that angle is described in its own track. In the weeks before signing, the point is to bring those preconditions into the open while they can still influence the decision.

Overall perspective

The weeks before a signature are in practice an expectation alignment. The screening clarifies whether there is a basic match on grid connection, site, and product. The early data determine how precisely the potential can be assessed. The internal approval process determines when signing can take place, and is linked to the first payment. And the contract establishes that we coordinate a turnkey process, without being able to guarantee the grid and building permits that are independent authority processes. A company that enters the dialogue with its consumption data and its internal mandate in place can move more quickly through the weeks a signature requires.

Have the potential for your facility assessed

If you are considering an industrial BESS, the natural starting point is the data this article has described: your grid connection in amperes, your consumption profile, and your historical consumption data. We use that type of data for an initial assessment of whether there is a match, and for a data-based dialogue about whether there is reason to move towards a contract. You are welcome to contact us here.