Will energy storage save the grid? How batteries and the software behind them are reshaping reliability in the age of AI demand
Interchange Recharged
Wood Mackenzie
4.8 • 535 Ratings
🗓️ 4 November 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
Electrification is surging, AI data centres are multiplying, and volatility is rising on both sides of the meter. Can storage step in as the flexible backbone the US grid now needs?
Host Sylvia Leyva Martinez is joined by Joanna Martin Ziegenfuss, General Manager for Strategic Market Development (North America), and Ruchira Shah, General Manager of Software Product Management at Wärtsilä Energy Storage. Together they unpack how high-performance hardware paired with sophisticated control software delivers real-time flexibility, from synthetic inertia and fast frequency response to price arbitrage and microgrid operation.
The conversation tracks the shift from treating storage as a bolt-on to renewables to viewing it as a core reliability asset. Sylvia, Joanna and Ruchi explore how AI-driven load growth and volatile demand profiles change planning assumptions; why interconnection queues are pushing some data centres toward on-site generation plus batteries; and how market rules and policy must evolve to reward flexibility and sub-second response. They also dig into software’s role in future-proofing assets as grid requirements tighten, and where innovators are already meeting new performance thresholds.
If you’re navigating project economics, market design or grid operations in a fast-changing landscape, this episode offers a pragmatic look at what’s working, what’s missing, and why storage is set to anchor a resilient, decarbonised grid.
This episode is brought to you by Wärtsilä Energy Storage – Wärtsilä delivers high performing, large-scale energy storage systems by combining sophisticated software, robust safety, and long‑term reliability—empowering utility, IPP, and data center customers to maximize energy value and investment returns. To learn more, visit: https://www.wartsila.com/energy/energy-storage?utm_source=woodmac&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=energy_storage_saving_the_grid&utm_content=host
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | to my friends or family and trying to get them interested in battery energy storage, |
| 0:04.0 | I often try and compare it to the smartphone, the phone itself being the battery and the software being the apps. |
| 0:11.0 | You know, there was a time and a place where in order to get a phone call, you had to be a certain location at a certain time. |
| 0:17.0 | Now, that's redundant. The phone element of a smartphone is almost redundant because it has all these other utilities. |
| 0:25.5 | And I can almost imagine something similar happening with batteries, where as we evolve and the needs evolve, we'll find new ways of monetizing this flexibility for different uses. |
| 0:38.4 | There are more capabilities than people even realize. |
| 0:41.9 | And I think that that's one of the key things that I've sort of taken away is that regulators, |
| 0:48.4 | people making policy, people in this space, they don't always understand technology and sometimes they think they fear technology. |
| 0:57.3 | I love batteries and I know I've been working with batteries for a long time and I'm super biased. |
| 1:03.7 | I love the grid. I love so many things. Yes, I love batteries. I love what they can do because they're so flexible, because they can support you on the demand side and the supply side, because they're so fast to ramp, they are an amazing tool. |
| 1:38.7 | Welcome to Interchange Recharge, the podcast where we unpack the technologies, trends, and players shaping the clean energy transition. |
| 1:42.9 | I'm your host, Sylvia Leva Martinez, research director of Wood McKenzie. |
| 1:48.5 | Today, we're diving into one of the hottest topics being discussed in the energy world right now. |
| 1:51.3 | How energy storage will save the grid. |
| 1:53.2 | I don't think it needs saving. |
| 1:59.4 | I think it needs some help, some help in its extremely difficult job it's doing. |
| 2:05.8 | As electrification accelerates, AI data centers multiply and demand searches across the U.S. |
| 2:10.3 | The grid is under growing pressure to stay balanced, flexible, and reliable. |
| 2:16.4 | Joining me to explore how energy storage can help meet these challenges are Joanna Martin Zigenfuss, |
| 2:19.3 | Bartila's general manager for energy storage strategic market development in North America, and Routira, Ruchisha, General Manager of Software |
| 2:25.2 | Product Management. Together, they bring a global perspective on the technologies, policies, and |
| 2:31.0 | innovations driving the next era of grid resilience. |
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