Prevalon Energy: What goes into creating an EMS?

The US battery storage solutions provider recently launched its energy management system (EMS) software, named insightOS.

EMS software is often mentioned in discussions of cybersecurity. There is a concern that having a grid-connected device using a foreign-made EMS could lead to security and safety issues.

Often, companies will purchase BESS equipment with EMS software made in China or other countries and remove the EMS to replace it with another.

“Anytime you’ve got a generation asset or any asset that’s touching the grid directly, there is the fear that some type of malware could get in there and could cause issues with bringing down parts of the grid,” Cornell says.

InsightOS will be integrated with Prevalon’s HD5 modular AC battery system, which includes its HD5 Data Centre, a data centre-specific system, and HD5 Microgrid, a community-specific system.

Creating an energy management system for the current US market

Prevalon claimed that insightOS represented a ‘major leap forward in energy management technology’ and called the software the ‘future of energy storage management.’

Providing insight into these statements, Cornells adds:

“There’s a lot of buzz words — a lot of these control systems, they all share a lot of the same features, functions and benefits. But I think the things that really make our system stand out, and when I talk to our controls engineers, the number one thing they say, is that it works. It’s a very robust system, and it works.”

Cornell further explains:

“Whether or not you’re doing a 10MW project, 100MW or even 1000MW project, we put features in this to make it a very scalable and user-friendly system. The other feature that we’ve made paramount is giving it flexibility because a lot of the projects we do are used for a whole host of different applications.”

Having a scalable and flexible EMS is crucial right now. The use of a BESS can vary greatly, and as markets shift, owners need the ability to shift strategy quickly.

Cornell emphasises the growth of data centres as an important consideration in the development of an EMS software.

In a guest blog for Energy-Storage.news, Tod Higinbotham, COO of ZincFive, writes that energy demand from data centres is “expected to increase by about 400 Terawatt-hours at a CAGR of 23% between 2024-2030.”

These centres are being built rapidly, sometimes in areas already lacking existing renewable energy infrastructure, putting further strain on the grid and a greater demand on energy resources.

For instance, in January, Regional Transmission Organisation (RTO) Southwest Power Pool (SPP) highlighted an ‘urgent need’ for power resources to support electric system reliability and demand from data centres.

Cornell is confident about the EMS’ ability to manage the demands of a data centre, providing insight on an upcoming project:

“We’re developing our first data centre project, an off-grid, behind-the-meter application. The plan includes up to 1000MW of generation using gas turbines, combined cycle, simple cycle, solar, reciprocating engines, and significant battery storage.”

“We’re working right now with some third-party engineering companies that are doing the overall system design, and then we’ll be designing our portion of the battery system and the insightOS to basically dovetail into that system.”

While there is growing concern over the future of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and its investment tax credits (ITCs), data centres could still play a key role within the renewable energy industry.

US president Donald Trump has signed executive orders with goals of deregulating the AI industry, which could, in turn, mean an even greater rise in data centre development.

“I think there are going to be winners and losers that are part of the IRA today. Our viewpoint is that if you look at the load demand right now in the US, which a big chunk of it’s being driven by the growth in data centres. You look at the transmission queues that currently exist throughout the US, we really believe that solar energy and battery energy storage are going to be a huge part of that growth requirement to meet that growing demand,” Cornell says

However, it’s also been seen that oil and gas companies are receiving an ever-growing number of requests to power data centres,

Global grid requirements

Prevalon also has projects in other countries to consider, namely, Chile, which has different needs and requirements as compared to US projects. InsightOS had to have flexibility for both markets.

“We have a simulator here in our headquarters, so we can actually load onto it a lot of the grid requirements that we’re going to be interfacing with. Then, we can bring the EMS, and then we can actually do all the functional testing to make sure that we can interface with that grid accordingly.”

Cornell continues, “A grid like we’re interfacing with in Chile is much different than what we’re doing here in the States. You know, it’s not as large of a system. It’s not as robust. So, there are more fluctuations on the grid than we would expect.”

The company has two completed projects in Chile, which Cornell says have been successful in using insightOS. He did not specify which projects but highlighted that Prevalon is currently building two more in the country.

In October 2023, Prevalon provided the 50MW/250MWh Salvador 1 BESS for developer and operator Innergex.

Then, in May 2024, the company provided the 35MW/175MWh San Andres 1 BESS for Innergex. Both of these projects are located in Chile.

In November 2024, it was announced that Prevalon would also provide the BESS for separate grid-connected projects co-located with the San Andres 1 and Salvador 1 projects.

Cornell emphasises the importance of understanding the complexity of BESS projects when creating an EMS, saying:

“People think batteries are pretty simple. It’s just a battery system, it gets charged, it gets discharged. How complicated could that really be?”

“Five years ago, we were building much smaller projects, such as the 10MW-30MW projects. Now you’re looking at 100, 200MW type projects with millions of battery cells in these plants. We’re monitoring each and every cell, voltage and temperature. So, we’ve got a lot of data points and information that we’re trying to monitor and control.”