How Neoen delivered first-to-market virtual battery to secure major contract in Australia

Energy players in New Zealand and Australia are starting to recognise the full potential of energy storage.

Neoen has been innovating in this industry since 2017. 

Alongside Tesla, Neoen spotlights energy storage for grid modernisation with the Hornsdale Power Reserve. The world’s largest (100MW) lithium-ion battery plant serves South Australia with fast-response emergency power, providing system resilience and price stability. 

Since then, the world’s fastest-growing producer of renewables has continued to develop competitive energy storage applications.

Neoen’s Portfolio Optimisation Manager Jeremy Lloyd and his team have been focused on the revenue generation potential of energy storage in the wholesale electricity market.

After working with YouDo in 2020, Neoen entered a significant commercial agreement knowing they had a trusted partner that could deliver a first-of-its-kind virtual battery product – on time and on budget.

The challenge

An ambitious project with major industry impact

Jeremy and his team signed a deal with an Australian energy retailer that promised to deliver a virtual battery and frontend application. 

The dashboard would present real-time storage capacity and market information, enabling the customer to charge the virtual battery and trade stored energy on the market in near real-time.

Based on the agreement, the customer would experience and gain the commercial advantage of energy storage, while Neoen owned the physical battery and associated risks.

“The virtual battery product enables our customers to gain the benefits of owning a utility-scale battery, without having to build or own one” – Jeremy Lloyd, Neoen

It would be a first-to-market application of a virtual battery at this scale – posing a massive opportunity for Neoen’s present and future customers should it succeed.

With the contract signed, Jeremy sought the technical expertise to help deliver the sophisticated product within a tight deadline.

The most practical approach won the tender

The tender process posed a simple set of guidelines, but Jeremy was surprised to see such a variety of responses. Many of them overcooked it.

“Several submissions we received were flashy, focusing on infrastructure & scalability but neglecting other business needs. YouDo differentiated themselves by prioritising pragmatism – their proposal stood out with its emphasis on simplicity, practicality and budget.” – Jeremy Lloyd, Neoen

With the advantage of a successful project with Neoen under their belt, the YouDo team offered to repurpose proven technologies to simplify the product and minimise cost.

The focus on practicality and profitability made Jeremy’s decision an easy one.

Quick progress from a light and straight-talking team

Over the 4-month development phase, Jeremy was impressed with YouDo’s clear and practical project management process. But communication made the most impact:

“Most software teams use a system that breaks the work down task-by-task, so there’s nothing special about YouDo’s methodology other than its simplicity. YouDo did a great job providing a simple breakdown of the product specification and estimates, which helped us plan around them. I enjoyed and trusted collaborating with YouDo due to their direct and open approach – they were always very reasonable in scoping changes to the design and were keen to help us solve problems as they arose. As a result, we were able to move quickly through the development phase.” – Jeremy Lloyd, Neoen

Compared to large teams of international contractors, YouDo’s smaller design team was refreshing and highly effective – especially for the daily check-ins during the testing phase.

The result

A groundbreaking energy storage product, delivered   on-time and on-budget

With so much revenue certainty attached to the deliverables, Neoen’s project with YouDo carried a huge amount of risk.

But YouDo delivered. The result is a groundbreaking product, completed under tight timeline and resource constraints, and a trusted partnership with a major player in Australia’s renewable energy future.

For Jeremy and his team, the impact of YouDo’s work can’t be understated:

“This contract unlocks a great opportunity for growth as the demand for flexible generation and renewable energy increases globally. YouDo has delivered a quality software product to a budget and deadline, which has kept our project on track and allowed us to focus on what our customers need.” – Jeremy Lloyd, Neoen

It’s been a privilege to continue our relationship with Neoen and serve their team on such a significant project, for the company and the Australian energy industry as a whole.

We’re excited to help energy players unlock the many applications of energy storage with sophisticated yet practical solutions – and, in Jeremy’s words…

“–a team that knows what they’re talking about,.” – Jeremy Lloyd, Neoen

Your success story begins with an open conversation – reach out to us here.