Reliability will define the next decade of energy storage

Henrik Mannesson, general manager of energy infrastructure, authored this article.

Just after sunset, solar generation that was plentiful during the day begins to fall, while energy demand from homes, businesses and data centers continues. Battery energy storage systems (ESS) are becoming the bridge between when energy is generated and when it’s needed.

The International Energy Agency projects that in order to support the rapid expansion of solar and wind power generation, global energy storage capacity must increase more than sixfold to 1,500GW by 2030. This surge in demand is reshaping how the industry thinks about energy production, storage and delivery.

But capacity alone won’t address demand challenges. As storage systems scale, long-term reliability is becoming the defining issue. Operators need confidence in the availability of stored energy when demand rises, renewable generation fluctuates, or unexpected grid events occur. An unreliable system undermines energy delivery and the ability to capture low-cost generation and deliver it when demand and prices peak.

When I talk with designers today, their primary concern is not the amount of stored energy but the reliability of delivery over the full life of the system. They want confidence that a system capable of delivering four hours of power today will perform similarly years later. That reliability starts inside the battery.

Challenges and breakthroughs inside the battery

Grid-scale storage systems rely on thousands of cells. A tiny malfunction inside a single cell, including abnormal heat generation or an internal short, can affect the performance of the whole system. Traditional battery management systems measure voltage, current and temperature, but those readings reflect how the system behaves from the outside, not the electrochemical changes occurring inside each cell.

Without visibility inside the cell, the most dangerous malfunction can go undetected until it’s too late: thermal runaway. In this self-heating chain reaction, a cell generates heat faster than it can dissipate it. By the time a temperature sensor detects overheating, the condition may already be irreversible, putting surrounding cells, modules or the entire system at risk.

Just as an electrocardiogram (EKG) monitors the heart, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) monitors a battery – measuring the electrochemical signature of each cell, a fingerprint unique to its chemistry, age and operating conditions. EIS delivers continuous, real-time insight that reveals each cell’s health and warns of issues before they become critical, from inside the cells, where traditional sensors cannot reach.

TI’s BQ79826Z-Q1 battery monitor with integrated EIS engine brings predictive intelligence, real-time diagnostics and comprehensive cell-level data to grid-scale battery systems. The battery monitor’s ability to monitor more cells per device reduces system complexity and cost, moving battery management from reactive monitoring toward intelligent, predictive control.  

How predictive monitoring affects operation

The clearest measure of what advanced battery management makes possible is time. Earlier insight into a potential failure creates a fundamentally different operating model. Operators can plan maintenance more precisely, reduce unplanned downtime, and make decisions with greater confidence in the system’s condition.

That intelligence also changes how operators use what they have. With a precise picture of state of charge and state of health, and how deeply the system can discharge without causing long-term damage, operators can treat large ESS installations as a trusted, optimizable asset.

Advancing intelligent energy delivery

As storage becomes more predictable at the battery level, it can become more responsive at the grid level, a connection that becomes increasingly important as systems grow larger and embed more deeply into the grid.

Renewable output rises and falls with weather and time of day, not always with demand. Storage systems that charge dynamically when generation is high and discharge when demand rises offer flexibility that conventional generation cannot match.

Think of energy delivery like a highway system. Engineers built the grid to handle peak demand, designing it for rush-hour traffic, yet it sits underutilized most of the day. Battery storage flips that model by storing energy and delivering it before demand rises, while absorbing renewable energy that might otherwise be curtailed.

Colocated generation and storage, such as solar paired with battery systems at industrial sites, data centers or substations, brings energy storage closer to the point of demand. These distributed energy systems must operate reliably, with less dependence on remote power sources.

The opportunity ahead

The next generation of energy storage will be defined by intelligence, precision and protection, including the ability to understand exactly what is happening inside thousands of battery cells, spot problems early, and deliver energy reliably when and where it’s needed.

The semiconductor technology needed to monitor every cell of a large, utility-scale energy storage system is now available. Organizations that invest in advanced battery management can deploy systems with confidence that stored energy will be available when the grid needs it most.