It is no secret that grid de-carbonization will play an outsized role in meeting global sustainability goals. Energy companies best poised to win in this future are preparing now – investing in solutions that will help accelerate the renewable energy transition, and power their business objectives. 

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This is why TotalEnergies runs a start-up accelerator program, TotalEnergies On, dedicated to future-proofing their electricity business. Tyba is thrilled to be included as the first US-based company to take part in the program and continue enhancing our ability to help leading energy companies maximize the value of their energy storage assets through AI-powered forecasting and optimization software.

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The program kicked-off on April 25th, allowing Tyba co-founders Tom Thunell and Tyler Nisonoff the opportunity to meet with their cohort and the TotalEnergies team at Station F. From an energizing week of innovation and ideation, four trends emerged:

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1. Innovation will yield outsized returns:
   Power producers can’t simply build utility scale power generation assets and expect profits to follow. Markets are complex, competition is growing, and regulations are continuously evolving. Winning companies will need an intentional value maximization strategy that includes storage and a trading platform.  

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2. AI has immediate business impact:
   AI is more than hype for many electricity applications. We have seen this first hand as Tyba leverages AI to develop highly accurate energy and ancillary service price forecasts, and to help battery operators maximize the lifetime value of their assets by balancing risk with daily return.
   
   Nearly all of the start-ups represented are leveraging AI to help drive business impact.
   
   
3. Collecting, cleaning, and acting on data continues to be a challenge:
   Power plants, market operators, EVs and charging systems, smart meters, and other components of the energy sector are generating increasingly large volumes of data. Yet, those data all live in silos. The quantity and lack of compatibility make it challenging to translate that data into usable, actionable insights. We will all be more effective with tech-enabled solutions that promote interoperability, and help organizations tap into this data at scale.

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4. Assets must be flexible to capitalize on the market opportunity:
   In an environment where market fluctuations are large and irregular, flexible grid assets (such as energy storage) must be able to respond quickly and effectively. We have seen market volatility evidenced in ERCOT and CAISO, and heard of similar trends emerging in European markets from our fellow program participants - and expect evolving markets to follow suit. Technologies with the ability to forecast based on historic data and exogenous factors, and adjust on the fly to respond to hourly/sub-hourly shifts, are essential to win in these dynamic markets. 

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