Post: Outcomes, not data is key for battery storage | Q&A with Michael Phelan 

Outcomes, not data is key for battery storage | Q&A with Michael Phelan 

There is a lot of talk in the industry right now about the gap between technical performance and commercial outcomes. What does that actually mean in practice? 

Here we spoke to GridBeyond CEO and Co-founder Michael Phelan to find out why BESS analytics must start with commercial outcomes. 

Q: There is a lot of talk in the industry right now about the gap between technical performance and commercial outcomes. What does that actually mean in practice? 

It means that a battery system can look perfectly healthy on paper and still be leaving money on the table. Asset owners receive detailed technical data every day, state of health, state of charge, degradation curves, round-trip efficiency, and yet the question that really matters, is this asset generating the revenue it should, often goes unanswered. 

The problem is that technical and commercial teams tend to work from different datasets and different definitions of success. A battery that clears every technical benchmark can still underperform commercially if it is dispatched into the wrong market at the wrong time. That gap has real financial consequences. 

Q: Why has this gap persisted for so long? 

Partly because the sector has scaled so quickly. Batteries moved from emerging technology to critical grid infrastructure in a very short space of time, and the tools and processes used to manage them have not always kept pace. Many operators still treat technical monitoring and commercial optimisation as separate disciplines, running them from separate platforms with separate teams. 

That siloed approach made more sense when portfolios were small and markets were simpler. It does not make sense now, when a single dispatch decision can have meaningful implications for both near-term revenue and long-term asset value. 

Q: How does GridBeyond approach this differently? 

Our platform brings forecasting, optimisation, execution and reporting together in one unified environment. Rather than producing technical outputs on one side and revenue reports on the other, it operates as a continuous feedback loop. Market signals inform dispatch decisions, and operational constraints feed back into commercial strategy in real time. 

We also have an in-house team of data scientists, quantitative analysts and energy traders who understand battery science and market rules as two sides of the same problem. They are not just monitoring assets. They are actively managing them, every hour of every day, from our 24/7 operations centre. 

Q: You talk about unlocking capacity that operators already have. What do you mean by that? 

Most energy storage operators leave up to 20% of their battery’s capacity unused. That is not poor management; it is a rational response to uncertainty. When you are not fully confident in your state of charge readings, your understanding of cell imbalance, or your degradation picture, you maintain a buffer to avoid overcommitting the asset. 

The problem is that this buffer is extremely costly. A 5% state of charge error can mean millions in lost revenue per year, and across an assets lifetime this adds up to a sizeable amount in foregone revenue. Industry evidence also shows that between 5% and 10% of usable capacity is routinely trapped by rack-level imbalance alone. The opportunity is significant, and it sits in assets that operators already own. 

Q: How does GridBeyond address the root cause of that uncertainty? 

The root cause is that conventional battery management system estimation methods, such as coulomb counting and fixed voltage thresholds, degrade in accuracy as batteries age. They were designed for new cells and simply become less reliable over time. 

GridBeyond’s approach is different because it is grounded in the physics of how batteries actually degrade. Through our collaboration with the University of Oxford, we have developed voltage slippage analysis and differential voltage analysis techniques that directly model the electrochemical mechanisms driving state of charge drift, including electrode slippage, loss of active material and impedance growth. Because our methods are calibrated to the underlying chemistry rather than historical patterns, they maintain accuracy across the full asset lifetime, not just when the battery is new. 

Q: Does this require new hardware or changes to existing assets? 

No, and that is one of the most important aspects of what we have built. Our analytics connect to the data streams that a battery management system is already collecting at every charge and discharge event. There is no cell disassembly, no additional instrumentation, no disruption to live assets. Operators can deploy these capabilities across an existing portfolio immediately. 

Q: What about assets from different manufacturers? Does GridBeyond only work with certain hardware? 

GridBeyond is entirely vendor-agnostic. Unlike some analytics platforms that are tightly integrated with a single manufacturer’s hardware, our software works across battery chemistries and management systems. Operators are not locked into one hardware ecosystem in order to benefit from best-in-class analytics. That flexibility matters as portfolios grow and diversify. 

Q: Beyond state of charge accuracy, what else does the platform provide? 

GridBeyond monitors continuously across the full system hierarchy, from individual cells and modules through to strings, inverters and chillers, detecting deviations from normal operating patterns before they affect availability or performance. We identify weak cells, imbalance issues, internal resistance anomalies and thermal irregularities early, enabling service teams to act before problems escalate rather than responding after the fact. 

We also provide dispatch scenario generation, which allows operators to model the impact of different operating strategies against degradation forecasts, warranty positions and long-term service agreement guarantees. That means operators can make informed decisions about cycles per day, depth of discharge and operating temperature with a clear view of the trade-offs involved, both before and after deployment. 

Q: What about battery health and long-term degradation? How does that factor in? 

It is central to everything we do. Short-term revenue should never be pursued at the expense of long-term asset value, so warranty considerations, degradation thresholds and operational constraints are factored into every dispatch decision alongside price forecasts and ancillary service opportunities. The goal is always to maximise value across the full lifecycle of the asset, not just the next trading window. 

Q: Is there a particular point in an asset’s life where this integrated approach matters most? 

Early-life performance is critical. Industry experience consistently shows that how a battery behaves in the months following commissioning sets the trajectory for its entire operational lifetime. Assets that stabilise quickly and reach consistent performance early tend to deliver stronger long-term returns. That is why GridBeyond’s involvement starts at the project development stage, not at the point of handover. By the time an asset goes live, we already have familiarity with it, and our operations team is positioned to identify and resolve issues before they translate into missed revenue or unnecessary wear. 

Q: What does success ultimately look like for a BESS asset owner working with GridBeyond? 

An asset that performs predictably, generates strong returns across multiple revenue streams and retains its value over time. We often say that no one really cares about analytics for its own sake. What they care about is outcomes. That philosophy shapes everything we build and everything we do. Bridging the gap between technical performance and commercial outcomes is not a feature of our platform. It is the reason it exists.

For more information or to discuss these themes in more details book a meeting