As renewable energy generation continues to grow rapidly to meet climate targets, the demand for grid-level battery storage is also growing. As solar and wind energy are intermittent energy sources, the surplus energy generated needs to be stored for use when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. Alongside the rising popularity of electric vehicles, these factors have made batteries the fastest-growing energy asset globally, with year-over-year growth of 76%.
Compared to those from 20 or 30 years ago, the electrical grids of today are much more complicated, with higher demand and multiple energy sources. Thus, one of the largest challenges for operators is optimizing the grid, ensuring that there is adequate supply to meet all demand, preventing wastage, and providing contingency measures in case of emergency.
Grid-level batteries are multimillion-dollar assets, but because third parties often operate them, project owners often lack visibility of how the algorithms operate. This creates a black box effect, where owners are unaware of why certain operational strategies are made and whether their assets are performing better or worse than competing projects in the market. Without this information, project owners aren’t aware of the full potential of the daily and recurring revenue on battery projects.
Seeking to change this is Powerline, an innovative energy startup that is building a one-of-a-kind adaptable AI, rooted in neural net algorithms. These algorithms deliver greater insight and optimization to grid-level batteries and more, helping create a more efficient and stable energy grid, while also bringing more visibility and value to project owners.
Powerline was co-founded by its CEO Matineh Eybpoosh, PhD, and CTO Julian Lamy, PhD. Both of them obtained their doctorates from Carnegie Mellon University and they previously co-founded WattLearn, which created an operating software for grid-level batteries. In addition to their entrepreneurial journey, Eybpoosh was director of data science at a startup kWantera, building the first generation of AI algorithms used by power plants and large load centers for power market trading. Meanwhile, Lamy was one of the first engineers who built Tesla’s Autobidder, an in-house software for operating grid-scale batteries.
According to Lamy, the high level of complexity in modern grids requires the use of artificial intelligence, as it is practically impossible to hard code all the different use cases and situations the grid might encounter while in operation. The startup’s first project is set for early 2025 in Australia. This involves creating a digital twin of a battery project and the wider grid and hosting it on the cloud. Project owners and operators can then use the digital twin to run different scenarios, using various forecasts and approaches, and benchmark these against actual performance. The AI program can analyze these scenarios, optimize various parameters, and generate performance reports.
Powerline chose Australia for its first project because of its high utilization of renewable energy, creating a large concentration of battery projects. Australia’s geography also makes it challenging to connect grids across various states and territories. Furthermore, the market is designed to rely on price signals to motivate market participants to balance the energy grid. These price signals are very volatile due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy and various transmission bottlenecks.
Following this, Powerline plans to expand to the US and European markets, particularly the UK, Spain, Portugal, and France. However, Eybpoosh says that using AI to optimize grid-level batteries is just the beginning for Powerline. This is the first step toward Powerline’s vision to create generalized AI that optimizes battery usage across all applications, such as for electric vehicles, data centers, and residential energy applications. The AI will be able to coordinate various devices across the grid or a home ecosystem, ensuring more efficient use of energy, lowering costs, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“Switching to renewable energy is crucial in cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions and addressing the climate crisis. Grid batteries are an important part of this transition, ensuring that power remains available at all times,” Eybpoosh says. “By using AI to optimize grid battery projects and give operators greater insight into their operations, we aim to make the field more transparent and conducive to investment, increasing participation and growing the market. AI has huge applications when it comes to battery optimization, and Powerline is continually developing ways to use the power of AI and contribute to greater energy efficiency and reliability.”
Media contact:
Name: Matineh Eybpoosh
Email: [email protected]
