Insights Drawn from Recent Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) Industry Survey Sheds Light on Shifting Operational Preferences and Challenges

TWAICE, a front-runner in the field of battery analytics software, has released its inaugural industry-specific survey, focusing on the insights and concerns of professionals working within the battery energy storage system (BESS) arena. Insights were gathered from a broad spectrum of over 80 industry professionals, ranging from engineers to asset managers, technicians, and operators - all in order to gain a multi-dimensional understanding of top-of-mind concerns in the sphere.

An analysis of the survey data elucidated these core insights:

• A majority, specifically 58%, of the participants ranked system performance and accessibility as their chief worries.

• Close to half, precisely 46% of the panel, admitted to encountering technical complications at least once in a month.

• Among asset managers, this figure jumped to 53%, and among operations and maintenance staff – those directly interacting with system performance – it spiked to a stark 73%.

• Only slightly over half, approximately 55%, affirmed satisfaction with their existing energy storage software suite.

Amongst regular incidences of technical glitches experienced by nearly half of all energy storage system professionals, the “BESS Pros Survey” focuses the limelight on regular and endemic issues plaguing the energy storage industry, preventing optimum system performance. The disparity between performance levels reported from different roles, further implies the possible existence of a communication gap between operation-centric roles and the rest of the organizational structure. This reinforces the necessity for a harmonious data strategy and enhanced communication pathways between operational stakeholders.

Supplementary observations from the survey highlighted a range of technologies that respondents employ to handle storage data. Interestingly, only approximately half of the respondents expressed gratification with the capabilities of their current software suite, backed by manufacturer-provided tools. In contrast, an increasing trend towards the adoption of more customized software tools to address storage specific issues was observed. This shift mirrors a greater realization that BESS operations mandate a deeper level of analysis, as well as management and optimization proficiencies that a run-of-the-mill energy software may fail to provide.

Throughout the survey’s findings, it became evident that professionals assigned with the task of ensuring smooth operations and the achievement of commercial success desire more dependable and detailed data,” says Dr. Stephan Rohr, Founder and co-CEO at TWAICE. “As we move towards an industry approach that doesn't merely ensure safe operations, but actively extracts economic value out of storage assets, equipping BESS professionals with need-specific tools becomes essential. Providing access to proactive BESS management data reduces risks and leverages market opportunities through highly available assets.”

TWAICE’s team of experts conducted this BESS industry survey over a period of three months between October and December 2024. They collated responses from 83 professionals from the EU and US. The bulk of the responses were received from independent power producers (forming 35% of the respondents); engineering, procurement, and construction firms (at 19%); and BESS integrators (at 17%). Most involved with utility-scale batteries predicted their total capacity would surpass 250 MWh in the next two years.