The global energy landscape is rapidly evolving, with battery storage critical in making renewable energy more reliable and scalable. Manoj Gopu, an engineer specializing in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), is at the forefront of this transformation. His work integrates cutting-edge innovations that enhance grid stability, optimize renewable energy usage, and drive the transition toward a more sustainable power infrastructure.
In this conversation, Gopu discusses how his innovations are improving energy efficiency, the role of AI and machine learning in energy management, and the latest advancements in battery technology. He also sheds light on the challenges of integrating renewable energy into the grid and the future of energy infrastructure.
Let’s start broadly. How have your innovations contributed to making energy infrastructure more efficient and sustainable?
As a design engineer focusing on building Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), our innovations make energy infrastructure more efficient and sustainable. By enabling grid stability, peak demand management, and energy arbitrage, we help reduce reliance on fossil fuels while optimizing renewable energy usage. Our fast-responding systems support ancillary services, enhancing grid reliability, and we’re integrating BESS with microgrids to boost resilience. Additionally, we’re advancing battery technologies to improve efficiency and reduce costs, helping both regions meet decarbonization goals and build more sustainable energy grids.
So, AI and machine learning are a major focus in every industry right now. Can you share specific projects where you have leveraged AI and machine learning to improve energy management and grid reliability?
We’ve leveraged AI and machine learning to enhance energy management and grid reliability in our projects. With Battery Management Systems (BMS), machine learning helps predict battery performance, optimize charging cycles, and detect potential failures, which improves maintenance and extends battery life. Through Energy Management Systems (EMS), AI models forecast energy demand, optimize the dispatch of energy resources, and efficiently integrate renewable sources by analyzing usage patterns and weather data.
For State of Charge (SOC) estimation, AI improves the accuracy of predictions, ensuring batteries operate within optimal range and enhancing efficiency and longevity. In Alarm Management, AI-driven systems prioritize critical alarms and predict faults, reducing alarm fatigue and enabling faster responses. These innovations collectively improve energy storage efficiency, grid stability, and the integration of renewable energy.
While most people look at the technology behind creating clean energy, battery storage is equally important. It’s also a major challenge in clean energy adoption. What advancements have you been involved in that are helping to improve storage capacity and efficiency?
In developing BESS, we’ve made significant strides in improving storage capacity, efficiency, and reliability through several key advancements. One of the main areas of focus has been State of Charge (SOC) Optimization. By carefully managing the charge and discharge cycles, we ensure that batteries are neither overcharged nor undercharged based on grid demand and pricing signals. This optimization extends the lifespan of the batteries, improves system performance, and ensures energy is available when needed most, reducing waste.
We’ve also implemented a preventive maintenance approach, using sensors to monitor critical parameters like temperature, voltage, and current. By tracking these indicators, we can identify potential issues early, allowing us to perform maintenance before problems lead to costly failures. This reduces downtime, minimizes repair costs, and ensures the system operates efficiently for extended periods.
Another key area is layout optimization. We focus on designing space-efficient storage systems with proper airflow and cooling to prevent overheating. By optimizing the physical layout of the battery racks and the cooling system, we not only enhance battery performance but also lower operational expenses by reducing the need for complex cooling solutions.
Regarding spare parts strategy, we maintain a strategic inventory based on failure trends and usage data. This proactive approach ensures that we have the right parts available when needed, minimizing downtime and allowing quick repairs to keep the storage system operational and reliable.
Finally, we emphasize data collection and optimization. Continuous monitoring of battery performance, environmental conditions, and grid interactions allows us to adjust system operations for maximum efficiency. This data-driven approach improves energy dispatch, enhances system reliability, and informs future design improvements.
These advancements in SOC management, preventive maintenance, layout optimization, spare parts strategy, and data collection increase energy storage systems’ efficiency, reliability, and lifespan. As a result, battery storage becomes more effective in supporting the adoption of clean energy, playing a key role in the transition toward a more resilient and sustainable energy grid.
How have your contributions helped shape the evolution of smart grids to better integrate decentralized renewable energy sources like solar and wind?
My contributions in designing and building battery energy storage systems have played a vital role in advancing the integration of decentralized renewable energy sources like solar and wind into smart grids. By deploying large-scale energy storage systems, we’ve been able to store excess renewable energy during periods of high generation and discharge it when demand spikes or renewable output decreases. This helps smooth out the inherent variability of renewable energy, ensuring a reliable power supply while enhancing grid flexibility.
Additionally, these storage systems provide essential grid services like frequency regulation and voltage support, which are crucial as we increase the share of intermittent renewable sources. Our work also focuses on optimizing the dispatch of stored energy, allowing us to predict and manage when solar or wind power is available and ensure that it is effectively used to meet demand rather than wasted.
This decentralization of power generation makes the grid more resilient and efficient. Our efforts also focus on reducing curtailment, when excess renewable energy is wasted, by ensuring that energy storage absorbs and stores this surplus power for later use. With the support of innovative grid technologies, we’ve enabled real-time monitoring and optimization, ensuring that renewable energy is seamlessly integrated into the grid. Overall, our work has helped make the grid more adaptable and sustainable, accelerating the transition to clean energy and improving grid stability.
What solutions have you worked on to address the intermittency challenges of renewable power generation?
Battery energy storage is essential in regions like Texas (ERCOT), New York (NYISO), and California (CAISO), where renewable energy is growing rapidly, but intermittency remains a challenge. In Texas, battery storage helps manage wind and solar power fluctuations, providing backup during extreme weather and stabilizing the grid. In New York, BESS stores excess renewable energy and releases it when generation drops or demand spikes, ensuring grid reliability. In California, storage addresses the “duck curve” by storing excess solar energy during the day and discharging it during evening peak demand.
As someone designing BESS projects in these regions, I’ve seen firsthand how these systems transform grid operations. By utilizing advanced storage technologies, we can smooth out the variability of renewable generation, ensure a more stable energy supply, and enable higher penetration of renewables without compromising grid reliability. The projects I’ve worked on focus on creating scalable, efficient solutions to integrate more clean energy and help these regions meet their ambitious sustainability goals. These systems enhance renewable energy integration and provide critical backup power during peak demand or extreme weather events, making our energy systems more resilient.
From your experience, what are the most significant barriers to implementing next-generation energy technologies, and how have you helped overcome them?
The main barriers to implementing next-generation energy technologies are cost, public awareness, and educating landowners and stakeholders. Cost remains a significant challenge, especially for emerging technologies. To overcome this, we optimize designs and secure financial incentives to make projects more affordable. Raising public awareness is essential to building support for clean energy, so we are involved in outreach efforts to educate the public on the long-term environmental and economic benefits.
Additionally, educating landowners and stakeholders ensures they understand the value and impact of these technologies, which is key to smooth project execution. Addressing these barriers can accelerate the adoption of next-generation energy technologies and drive a more sustainable energy future.
Can you highlight a specific case where your work has had a measurable impact on sustainability, cost reduction, or energy efficiency?
I worked on two major projects: 2- 200 MWh BESS projects in ERCOT and 2- 20 MWh BESS projects in New York City. In ERCOT, the larger systems stored excess wind and solar energy, discharging it during peak demand or low renewable output, reducing reliance on fossil-fuel plants and lowering energy costs. In NYC, the smaller systems supported industrial zones by providing backup power during brownouts, stabilizing the local grid, and ensuring continuous operations.
Looking ahead, what breakthroughs in energy infrastructure technology are you most excited about, and how do you see your contributions shaping the future of clean energy?
Looking ahead, I’m most excited about breakthroughs in solid-state batteries, long-duration energy storage (LDES), and developing more robust, safer, and more efficient BESS. Solid-state batteries could offer a safer, higher-capacity alternative to traditional lithium-ion, with little to no risk of thermal runaway, improving both performance and safety. LDES technologies also hold significant promise for addressing the challenge of storing energy over extended periods, making it easier to balance intermittent renewable generation with energy demand.
Advancements in plug-and-play installation for energy storage systems will simplify deployment, enabling faster scaling and easier integration of storage solutions, especially in distributed energy environments. The involvement of AI and machine learning will further optimize battery performance by predicting energy storage needs, enhancing state-of-charge management, and ensuring longer lifespans by preventing overcharging or deep discharging. These technologies will also help with real-time decision-making and grid optimization.
Finally, integrating these advanced systems into smart grids will enable dynamic, efficient energy distribution, enhancing grid stability and allowing for better renewable energy integration. By contributing to developing these technologies, I see my work shaping the future of clean energy by enabling safer, more reliable, and more efficient energy storage solutions that support the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon future.
