Building the Right Data Strategy for BESS: Unlocking System-Level KPIs for Optimal Performance

‍Data Isn't a Sidecar — It’s a Core Asset

Most know that a single BESS can generate billions of data points every day. But what’s often overlooked is that data itself should be treated as a long-term asset, just like batteries and inverters. As an operator you need to bake data ownership and access rights into your RFPs and procurement contracts, so that from day one you are getting both raw and processed feeds into your analytics stack. Think of it as future-proofing: if you wait until after commissioning to worry about data, you’ll end up scrambling for missing telemetry, troubleshooting VPN tunnels, and wrestling with cyber-security hurdles when it’s too late.

Six Stages, One Strategy

A truly robust data strategy means planning for every step of your BESS lifecycle, not just design and deployment.

• ‍RFI/RFP: From the very first tender documents, insist on exactly which data you need, e.g. raw voltages, currents, temperatures and even pre-computed KPIs like State of Charge (SoC) or cycle count, how often you need it, in what formats, and who “owns” it. Build in clauses that guarantee you (and your chosen analytics partner) easy access to both raw telemetry and any processed outputs your integrator generates. ‍
• Project Development: Before you sign contracts, run through a data-maturity checklist:
  
  • Does the vendor support open, non-proprietary protocols?
  • Will their system integrate seamlessly with your Power Plant Controller or any third-party analytics tools you may choose later?
  • Specify acceptable standards, e.g. Modbus, MQTT, REST APIs, in your technical requirements. ‍
• Commissioning: As you fire up the site, validate that every ingested stream is complete, clean (noise-free), and time-synced. Confirm your storage infrastructure can handle the influx, enforce VPN/firewall rules and end-to-end encryption, and integrate multiple hardware sources, like RTUs, inverters, and sensors. Iron out any connectivity blind spots, especially at remote locations.
• ‍Operations & Maintenance: Automate real-time ingestion with retry logic and back-fill so you never miss a sample. Normalize sensor names, units, and signal definitions across every subsystem. And lock down security and role-based access so your trading desk, engineering team, and auditors all see exactly what they need—no more, no less.
• ‍Trading: Feed your trading platform a clean, low-latency stream of SoC and availability data via APIs or webhooks, but only after passing it through a pre-processing pipeline that aggregates, formats, and cleanses it to meet market compliance rules. ‍
• Decommissioning & Handover: When ownership changes or assets reach end-of-life, follow a standardized export process so every bit of historical telemetry—and the metadata that explains it—remains accessible for audits, warranty claims, or future performance benchmarking.

By embedding these requirements into each phase—from RFI through decommissioning—you transform data from an afterthought into one of your most valuable, long-term assets.

If you get these steps right your operations team can move from firefighting to fine-tuning. They no longer need to chase missing feeds or wrestle with incompatible formats. Instead, you can zero in on two system-level metrics that will help you drive your decisions and your bottom line.

Meet Your New Best Friends: Availability & Round-Trip Efficiency

Rather than drowning in dozens of metrics, focus on two powerful, system-level KPIs:

• ‍Availability: Are all components—batteries, inverters, transformers—actually contributing to energy throughput? At TWAICE, we keep it simple: every asset is either “operational” or “non-operational,” summed up as a percentage.
• ‍Round-Trip Efficiency (RTE): Instead of an annual snapshot buried in a warranty contract, continuously tracking RTE helps to spot degradation early and to protect revenue.

Why OEM Data Isn’t Enough

BMS and EMS stream a ton of telemetry. But insights are nothing without context and cross-fleet visibility. On top of a raw data feed, operators need to layer data pipelines, cleansing rules, and advanced algorithms so that they can compare patterns across their site.  

With this you can uncover early signs of performance degradation and receive automated recommendations — instead of manually sifting through endless log files.

Key Takeaways

• Make sure your data is your data, right from the beginning
• BESS performance requires analytics that considers all components
• Build out a data strategy across the BESS lifecycle

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Curious how TWAICE can help? Watch our product tour!