Intersolar 2025 and ESS focus
Intersolar and its parallel exhibitions collectively forming Europe’s largest alliance of energy industry events were as dynamic and busy in 2025 as they were last year. Once again, I aimed to gain insight into the strategic priorities and technological focuses of companies driving the energy transition.
As in previous years, one of the most impressive showcases was EES Europe, the continent’s largest and most international exhibition for batteries and energy storage systems. Beyond the vast array of hardware innovations, I observed substantial progress in battery trading and optimization technologies.
Numerous EMS (Energy Management System) providers are now enhancing their software capabilities to support battery optimization and generate trading strategies. I met more startups centered on trading renewable energy and battery capacity on behalf of third parties. These companies operate in day-ahead, intraday, and ancillary services markets, using cross-market optimization to generate profits, which they then share with asset owners. This business model appears particularly lucrative in today’s energy landscape.
Market analysts I spoke with indicated that battery projects and trading are expected to remain highly profitable through the mid-2030s. However, beyond that point, grid flexibility will become sufficient leading to more profit cannibalization for battery operators.
Another remarkable trend is the rapid emergence of software vendors offering compact trading solutions. These tools support asset and portfolio optimization, algo trading, ancillary services trading, and TSO communication. They can serve as add-ons to full-scale ETRM systems or as standalone solutions for IPPs and project developers trading their own assets.
Battery optimization, however, is far less straightforward than traditional gas storage or gas-fired power plants optimization. Commercial optimization must consider the current state of charge (SoC) and constraints such as cycle limits over defined periods, warranty conditions, and expected degradation. These variables, usually called battery KPIs, are provided by EMS/BMS systems or specialized battery analytics solutions, and they add a layer of complexity to the optimization process.
Accurate estimates of SoC, available trading capacity, and degradation resulting from various injection/withdrawal scenarios is a non-trivial challenge. Companies are approaching this in two primary ways: applying AI to large historical datasets to forecast battery KPIs and developing fundamental models based on battery physics and chemistry. Regardless of the method, the effectiveness of commercial battery optimization and trading hinges on the quality of the input data. The ability to forecast battery KPIs is the cornerstone of success in battery trading.
Keep in touch and sign up to our Newsletter
