Article co-authored by Saurabh Chatterjee, Senior Vice President and Onshore Renewables Business Line Leader at WSP.
WSP’s senior vice president and onshore renewables business line leader Saurabh Chatterjee and Morgan Brimstein, project lead in the SCADA and Analytical Services group at POWER Engineers, member of WSP had an insightful week at RE+ 2025. Below, they offer their thoughts and key takeaways from the event.
Between advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, data centers and general electrification, we've seen a lot of growth in energy demand. What role do you see the renewable industry playing in supporting this load growth over the next 5 to 10 years?
Saurabh Chatterjee: That seems to be the question on everyone’s mind lately. From a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) perspective, renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy, and the consensus among those who attended the conference is that we need more of it.
Data centers, for example, have gigawatts of load demand and are trying to find generation to meet that demand, but interconnection continues to be a bottleneck. There isn’t enough transmission infrastructure to get power to the data centers. With the added energy demand from other industries like advanced manufacturing, even if we were to combine all forms of energy generation—biomass, natural gas, thermal, renewables, conventional generation, etc.—we still wouldn’t have enough in the places we need it.
Renewables will play a critical role in meeting this demand quickly, but they will need to be combined with battery storage solutions to really bring that firm and reliable energy to places like data centers.
Morgan Brimstein: I went into this conference with two goals: learn more about how renewable energy could power data centers as well as how shifts in policies have affected the outlook of renewable energy programs.
Data centers have massive load demands and I was uncertain about whether renewable energy could actually support them. After chatting with other industry professionals, my main takeaway is that yes, renewables can help power data centers, but we are still going to need to supplement them with other sources of energy generation like nuclear and natural gas.
I was also pleasantly surprised to find that morale at the conference was overall positive and optimistic, despite recent policy shifts regarding renewable energy programs. While the industry is going to feel some slowdown due to these changes, local- and state-level incentives still exist and no one expects the slowdown to be significant.
Because of that, I expect renewables will play a crucial role in meeting load growth demands over the next decade, and it will be interesting to see how everything plays out in this new era of renewables growth. People are already brainstorming new mechanisms to finance projects!
Grid reliability and resilience are really important topics right now. Did you see or hear anything at RE+ that gave you any indication about technologies or innovations that can help secure our renewable assets from storm, fire, physical security and cybersecurity threats?
Saurabh: There’s a tremendous amount of focus on solving intermittency issues and risks from changing climate and I think batteries are going to play the largest role in that. There are new technologies being introduced such as a larger and higher capacity utility-scale battery with a 5 MWH energy capacity and a simplified design that helps lower engineering, procurement and construction costs. Overall, battery technology continues to become more efficient, bigger and the cost continues to go down.
I like to think of batteries as a Swiss Army knife. It’s one asset but it has many functions. Battery systems in general will help with reliability and resiliency.
Morgan: Technology and innovation was definitely a key focus at this conference. A lot of companies approached our booth to discuss their resilient new product offerings, like fireproof and ballistic resistant substation walls and fireproof battery energy storage systems.
Are there any opportunities to integrate these new innovations and technologies?
Saurabh: There is a ton of innovation in software tools, especially for the design phases of projects. Projects progress iteratively through civil, structural, electrical and other engineering teams, which takes time and can cause project delays, but there are tools now that are getting better and better at streamlining processes and integrating them on a single platform.
The other theme that’s gaining traction in technology is long duration energy storage. A majority of the energy storage projects we see today have 2- to 4-hour duration applications, but long duration energy storage solutions are emerging that could store anywhere from 12 to 100 hours. In a world where we need 24/7 operation, this offers an exciting opportunity to cover the entire hour of operation (24 hrs), even when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. Additionally, it helps with the intermittency inherent in renewable energy generation.
Morgan: I’m looking forward to being able to use new technologies and innovations to work more efficiently internally. It was really nice to have WSP and POWER Engineers, member of WSP at the same booth. We had a lot of really good conversations about how we can optimize our performance by adopting each other’s tools and practices as we transition into a single organization.
Are there any specific takeaways that either of you have that you're going to take back to your groups?
Morgan: I work in our SCADA and analytical services group, which specializes in tailored engineering services related to the monitoring, control and analysis of electrical systems. We perform studies on electrical systems that enable our clients to efficiently manage and control their electrical networks, optimize system performance, enhance grid reliability and support decision-making through data-driven insights. My most prominent takeaway is that people—small firms, consultants and even those who are just diving into the renewable sector—are looking for support. They need help with studies and system modeling, and I was able to make some connections that could turn into new work for us next year.
Saurabh: I lead the onshore renewables practice business line for WSP. We focus on solar, wind, battery storage, microgrids and so on. One of the things we are starting to do a lot is figuring out the right mix of those components to power hungry data centers. We also had a lot of conversations on how to take new, innovative projects to the next level.
This week is Clean Energy Week. After attending this huge renewables conference, what would you recommend individuals and organizations do to contribute to both cleaner energy adoption and improved grid resilience?
Saurabh: Renewables are the number one generation source that are adding new energy to the grid. In 2024 and during the first half of 2025, new solar and wind generation accounted for almost 90% of that new energy mix. Our transmission infrastructure has not yet caught up to the growth we’re seeing in this industry. There isn’t enough infrastructure to bring the energy to where it is needed, and the grid often gets congested in high demand areas.
Batteries tend to be pressure relievers in congested nodal areas. They can collect excess energy when the cost of energy is super low and can deliver it when it is high and you don’t have enough generation coming in. Batteries help with grid resilience and power quality.
We as an industry need to be at the forefront of innovation and focus on how to get all of this new technology working together. Battery storage is going to grow exponentially, and we need to be the experts who understand how to be at the forefront of it.
I’d also like to see more early engagement with young professionals through renewables internship programs. We need to fill the talent gap and welcome more people into a career in renewables.
Morgan: People in the industry are already really excited to put forward their best work and innovate. My only advice would be to try to stay up to date on local, state and federal policies so that we can properly advise our clients throughout their projects.
We look forward to more valuable insights from Morgan, Saurabh and more in the future. Article originally published here.