Technically, it always comes down to the same thing: the economically best use of the battery under the given conditions. Studies and real projects show that batteries generate the highest value when they can serve several use cases at the same time or flexibly switch between them.
FION therefore does not operate the battery towards a single KPI ("as many cycles as possible"), but towards your economic goal:
reduction of demand charges and grid fees
reduction of your overall power procurement costs
best possible use of on-site generation
meaningful use of price signals and markets
The software continuously evaluates which use of the battery delivers the highest economic benefit in the current situation.
FION combines established battery use cases into a site specific multi use profile. The key building blocks:
1. Peak shaving
Industrial sites often cause short load peaks when several assets run at the same time. These peaks drive demand charges and thus a relevant part of grid fees.
The battery charges in periods of normal load.
Shortly before expected peaks it is kept charged and ready.
At the peak it discharges and reduces the measured grid load.
This reduces demand related components of grid fees, especially in Germany and across Europe. Peak shaving is one of the most established industrial battery use cases.
2. Atypical grid usage
In Germany, companies can apply for individual grid fees under section 19 StromNEV if they shift their load specifically outside the high load windows defined by the grid operator. This is referred to as atypical grid usage.
A battery helps to technically achieve this profile:
During high load time windows, peaks are cut with the battery.
Load is shifted into other hours without disturbing production.
Depending on the specific setup, grid fees can be significantly reduced. The exact design depends on grid area, consumption and regulatory conditions.
3. Self consumption optimisation (PV, CHP and other on-site generation)
If you operate PV, CHP or other on-site generation at your site, you know the problem: generation and consumption do not always line up over time. Studies and real projects show that a battery can significantly increase the self consumption rate.
FION's software ensures that:
surplus PV, CHP or other on-site generation is not simply pushed into the grid at low remuneration levels
stored energy is used later at times when grid power would be expensive
possible interactions with peak shaving and atypical grid usage are taken into account
In short: more of your own generation ends up in your production instead of in the grid.
4. Time-of-use and dynamic tariffs
More and more companies source part or even all of their electricity directly on the spot market or via tariffs that closely track wholesale prices. This creates clear differences between cheap and expensive hours (time-of-use, ToU).
Behind-the-meter batteries are ideally suited to use these price signals:
charging in hours with low prices or high on-site generation
discharging in expensive hours to reduce grid imports
FION's software uses the structure of your tariffs (for example high/low tariff, spot price linkage, surcharges) and combines this with load and generation forecasts to choose the economically best charging and discharging times.
5. Arbitrage
In the power sector, arbitrage is not just "charge low, discharge high", but above all the active participation in power and ancillary service markets with a flexible battery.
For industrial batteries this typically means:
use in wholesale markets such as spot, day ahead and intraday markets
participation in selected ancillary service markets, where technically and regulatorily possible
the battery is dispatched so that it provides energy or capacity in hours with high prices or scarcity
Typical mechanism:
An energy trader or direct marketer uses the battery to trade in these markets.
The revenues achieved generate a monthly or quarterly income stream for the customer.
FION ensures that technical limits and the primary on-site use cases (for example peak shaving, atypical grid usage, self consumption) are respected.
The key point here:
To turn these five building blocks into a coherent overall strategy, FION's software processes several data streams in real time or near real time:
Incoming data
measurement data at the grid connection point and relevant sub-distributions
current load and state of charge of the battery
forecasts for demand and PV generation (for example based on historical profiles and weather data)
tariff and price information (ToU structure, spot prices, surcharges)
grid and contract constraints (for example high load time windows, capacity limits)
Optimisation logic
Put simply, the software repeatedly answers the question in short time steps:
In doing so it considers, among other things:
priorities of the use cases (for example first secure high load windows, then arbitrage)
technical limits of the battery (power, capacity, state of charge, degradation)
economic impact of each decision (grid fee savings, avoided expensive kWh, potential revenues)
Under the hood, optimisation methods are used that are also applied in scientific work and industrial energy management systems.
What matters for you:
The complexity stays inside the software. In the user interface you see the logic and effect:
which objectives the battery is currently following
which savings have been generated
how battery operation impacts your business case
With FION optimisation, your internal teams do not need to build their own "battery control room".
Day-to-day reality:
your operations run as usual
FION's software controls the battery automatically within the agreed use cases
your team has access to a dashboard with KPIs such as
reduced demand peaks
lower grid fees
increased self consumption
progress towards the targeted payback period
When conditions at the site change (for example new assets, changed shift patterns, additional PV), FION can:
adjust parameters and forecast models
run new scenarios
adapt battery operation to the new framework
The goal is that you have as little additional operational effort as possible while always knowing how much value the battery is currently delivering for you.
Behind-the-meter batteries and time-of-use tariffs
IRENA: “Behind-The-Meter Batteries – Innovation Landscape Brief”
Optimisation with forecasts and real time dispatch
NREL: “Heuristic Dispatch Based on Price Signals for Behind-the-Meter Battery Storage”