Energy storage company Ingrid Capacity is rapidly building battery storage parks. 14 parks will be operational this autumn. To optimize the use of these parks, the company is developing new digital tools and recruiting more data experts.
Ingrid Capacity recently opened a 12 MW battery park (12 MWh) outside Gävle, which is connected to Gävle Energi and approved by the Swedish National Grid. This is one of the company's 14 battery energy storage parks, totaling about 200 MW, which will be operational in autumn 2024 and will be mainly used for the fast-growing ancillary services market on the Swedish grid. In addition, another 200 MW of energy storage facilities will enter the construction phase this autumn. Since its establishment in 2022, the company has expanded rapidly with external funding and aims to install 8 GW of capacity across Europe by 2030.
Extremely data-driven
But the company's expansion is not limited to hardware, and more and more of its business focus is turning to software development - using technologies such as artificial intelligence to develop new digital tools for grid analysis and trading to optimize the use of batteries.
"We are extremely data-driven across the entire value chain," said Andreas Langholz, Ingrid Capacity's new head of digital strategy. "This is particularly important in our engagements with grid companies – we are able to demonstrate through simulations how battery storage can improve local infrastructure and show the impact of different options on grid stability."
Ingrid Capacity has already conducted similar simulations across the country, analyzing factors such as power demand, grid sites, and demographic development, which inform the selection of sites for upcoming battery storage parks.
Rapid development
According to Andreas Langholz, who previously led the application of AI in the energy and industry sectors at McKinsey, increasing digitalization is a must for optimizing battery park operations. He pointed out that energy companies need to pay more attention to the development of digitalization and AI, and said: "In the past year, technologies such as Chat GPT and generative AI have developed rapidly, and they can be widely used in internal processes such as document management, procurement and contract processing."
Ingrid Capacity plans to combine generative AI with machine learning, mathematical optimization and software development, and explore how to combine energy network simulation with visual recognition systems to discover the potential for improvement in power grid infrastructure.
Demand for IT developers
In the past six months, Ingrid Capacity has rapidly expanded its data team, with data experts and software developers accounting for an increasing proportion. By 2030, the company expects to hire 150 to 200 employees, of which the data team will be the largest part. However, finding the right IT talent is not easy.
"IT talent resources are limited, and we are looking for mathematicians, statisticians, data engineers with doctoral degrees, and talents familiar with infrastructure and API management." Langholz said.
He also advised other energy companies to ensure that they have modern infrastructure and high-quality data when using AI to develop data tools, and to start with a small number of projects and move forward step by step, while encouraging risk-taking.