The battery room is no longer a side note in today’s data center blueprints. As AI training clusters and high-density inference racks strain local grids, battery energy storage systems (BESS) are shifting from insurance policy to core infrastructure—speeding interconnections, stabilizing load, and sometimes arriving before new substations.
Many new data center projects face multi-year delays waiting for grid interconnection approval and substation build-outs. BESS is emerging as a practical answer to the U.S. interconnection logjam. These battery systems allow facilities to operate or expand before a full grid tie-in is complete.
Two recent events demonstrate BESS’s momentum. First, Honeywell and LS ELECTRIC unveiled a global collaboration in October to deliver integrated, AI-assisted BESS with power controls and switchgear aimed squarely at mission-critical facilities. The systems are grid- and building-aware, designed to forecast when to draw from the grid and when to use batteries.
Additionally, Aligned Data Centers and Calibrant Energy just announced a 31-MW/62-MWh on-site BESS in the Pacific Northwest, sized specifically to win an earlier, smaller interconnection and ramp operations years ahead of traditional upgrades. Scheduled for 2026, the system will discharge during peak periods to ease the local feed, essentially converting the facility from a passive load into a responsive grid resource.
Procurement Issues
Forecasts indicate that U.S. data centers could consume up to 12% of national electricity by 2028, driven by hyperscale AI growth. Data center builders, eager to bring capacity online, are considering numerous options: wait for utility upgrades, add behind-the-meter gas power, or pair solar and storage behind the meter. As gas turbine lead times lengthen and project risk rises, batteries look increasingly practical.
Batteries absorb intra-day price spikes, shave peaks, and provide backup capacity alongside generators and fuel cells. They also smooth the rapid load swings common in AI clusters, protecting both grid interfaces and on-site thermal assets. Experts see significant BESS opportunity tied to hyperscalers through the next decade, with growth accelerating after 2026 as policy and supply chains settle.
Procurement, however, is complicated. Chinese vendors lead on cost and energy density, a politically fraught challenge given cybersecurity and trade constraints. Yet domestic options, like Tesla’s Megapack and Fluence among them, are expanding. Regardless of vendor, many now see BESS as a cost competitive way to add capacity quickly.
Some projects, like the Aligned/Calibrant alliance, emphasize U.S. manufacturing content and layered safety (integrated fire prevention, 24/7 remote monitoring) to satisfy both public-policy goals and insurer checklists.
Energy Storage’s Major Growth
Some data center operators use BESS as a bridge to a fuller grid connection, later migrating assets to utility control for long-term reliability and market access. Others keep storage on site to guarantee power during curtailments and align with corporate energy strategies. Either way, BESS can enable flexible interconnection, proving a data center can ramp down grid draw during peaks without lowering compute, which is often the key to faster approvals.
Still, thermal generation will have a role in data center power. Analysts remain positive on gas’s role in meeting rising load. But the center of gravity is moving. Integrated controls plus modular BESS now offer data centers tangible levers. They can accelerate time-to-power, offer solid uptime, and improve sustainability by providing renewables.
The net effect is that storage is no longer a static box in the electrical room. It’s an active participant in data center capacity planning and operations. In the AI era, that makes batteries a key player in today’s rapidly growing data center sector.
