The race to store energy for AI data centers is colliding with a patchwork of national rules that were never designed for today’s battery scale. A single fire in South Korea last year knocked out hundreds of government systems, and that incident is now a central reference point for a new push to standardize how these facilities handle lithium-ion power storage.
Americase International will confront that regulatory mismatch head-on in a session at the 2026 Open Compute Project (OCP) Global Summit, running Oct. 12–15 at the San Jose Convention Center. Two members of the Americase International team will participate in the discussion, which zeroes in on what the company calls a “compliance gap.” Rules for shipping, installing, storing and disposing of data center lithium batteries vary widely by country and jurisdiction, leaving operators to reconcile conflicting requirements just as AI demand accelerates the deployment of battery energy storage systems (ESS).
The stakes are not abstract. On Sept. 26, 2025, a lithium-ion battery fire at South Korea’s National Information Resources Service data center in Daejeon affected 647 government information systems, disrupting public services across the country. Officials traced the blaze to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) battery that was being relocated during maintenance. The episode underscores why consistent protocols for moving, handling and replacing batteries matter as data centers expand their energy storage footprint.
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The Oct. 15 session, titled “The Compliance Gap: ESS Safety in the Age of AI Infrastructure,” will dig into findings from the Open Compute Project’s white paper, Requirements for Energy Storage Systems Used in Data Centers, published in January 2026. That document compiles the worldwide codes and standards governing energy storage in hyperscale and AI data centers, a task that grows more complicated as these systems become larger and more intricate. Mike Pagel, Senior Consultant at HazMat Safety Consulting, an Americase International company, and a contributing author of the white paper, will sit on the panel. Joel Chakkalakal, Director of Data Centers and Sustainability at Americase, an Americase International company, will moderate.
“Investment in energy storage for AI data centers is moving faster than the regulations that govern it, and operators often don’t know what they really have until the batteries are tested and classified. Too often, they find out when a shipment is held, a permit is delayed or an insurer pushes back,” said Mike Pagel, Senior Consultant at HazMat Safety Consulting and a contributing author of the white paper. “This panel is about replacing guesswork with clear, practical steps teams can act on right away.”
The 25-minute session, part of the OCP Ready™ Facilities / Power & Energy track, will explore how U.S. and international codes covering battery transportation, installation and operation overlap and sometimes clash. Panelists will also consider whether emerging chemistries such as nickel-zinc should be regulated differently from lithium-ion under existing codes, and what operators, equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and supply chain partners can do now to spot compliance gaps and lower their risk exposure.
Moderator and panelists
– Joel Chakkalakal (Moderator), Director of Data Centers and Sustainability, Americase, an Americase International company — An active member of the OCP community, Chakkalakal brings expertise in supply chain challenges, regulatory compliance and data center safety.
– Mike Pagel, Senior Consultant, HazMat Safety Consulting, an Americase International company — A contributing author of the white paper, Pagel specializes in lithium battery transportation regulations and helped inform the paper’s guidance on dangerous goods transportation, regulatory compliance and lifecycle safety.
– Shrikanth “Sri” Venkateshappa, Director of Accounts DACH, Anord Mardix, a Flex company — Venkateshappa was a work stream lead and author of the white paper.
– Mauro Leuce, Senior Director, Global Design & Engineering Standards, Digital Realty — A co-author of the white paper, Leuce brings an operator’s perspective on deploying and managing energy storage systems across different regulatory environments.
Session details
Session: The Compliance Gap: ESS Safety in the Age of AI Infrastructure
Track: OCP Ready™ Facilities / Power & Energy
Date: Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026
Time: 8:40–9:05 a.m. PDT
Location: 2026 OCP Global Summit, San Jose Convention Center, Room 210CG, San Jose, Calif.
For additional information about the session, visit Americase International’s event page.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who should attend this session?
A: Hyperscale and colocation operators, facilities and fire protection engineers, hardware OEMs, procurement and supply chain leaders, and anyone responsible for permitting, insuring or deploying energy storage at scale.
Q: Does the session cover only U.S. codes?
A: No. Panelists will address how NFPA 855, the National Fire Protection Association’s standard for installing stationary energy storage systems, is widely adopted by U.S. jurisdictions but is not legally binding in markets such as Germany, Japan or Singapore, and how operators manage differing local requirements across the more than 15 countries profiled in the white paper’s appendix.
Q: Do attendees need to read the OCP white paper beforehand?
A: No. The panel is designed to make the white paper’s findings accessible without prior familiarity, and the session includes time for audience questions.
About Americase International
Americase International, parent company of Americase, HazMat Safety Consulting, and Fulcrum Testing, integrates containment engineering, dangerous goods regulatory strategy, and safety and performance validation to protect what is hazardous, what is valuable, and what has never been shipped before. Americase has designed and manufactured protective cases since 1985; HazMat Safety Consulting is led by former U.S. and international regulators who helped shape today’s dangerous goods standards; and Fulcrum Testing provides lithium battery and product testing. Its conviction: containment, not just compliance. Based in Waxahachie, Texas, the company serves customers in electronics, aerospace, defense, data center, EV/automotive, energy storage, medical device and other industries. Learn more at www.AmericaseInternational.com.
On-site media contact at OCP Global Summit (Oct. 12–15): Marina Malamis, Director of Marketing, 469-401-6950. Interviews available on request.
Becca Cooper
PR Lead
press@americaseinternational.com
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Why it matters: As AI data centers scale up energy storage, inconsistent battery rules across borders create real operational and safety risks. This session offers a rare chance for operators and regulators to align on practical standards before the next failure becomes a wider crisis.
