The BESS Book

“Finally! A battery book for professionals at the frontline of utility-scale BESS projects. The authors cover engineering, financing, supply chain, contracting and construction with the nuance and lingo of today’s industry. Game-changing.”

-Christian Sanchez, P.E., Sr Manager of Development Engineering, AES Renewables.

“Comprehensive and insightful! This book is a must-read roadmap for understanding the transformative power of battery energy storage systems.”

-Jamie Daggett, Energy Storage Advisor, Ariel Green

“The BESS Book deftly chronicles the rapid, exponential advancements in stationary battery storage deployment. This compelling exploration captures a decade of relentless innovation, unexpected challenges, and brilliant successes.”

-Andrea Hu-Bianco, SVP Engineering, RWE Clean Energy

Drew Lebowitz, P.E., is Principal and Managing Director at PowerSwitch, an energy storage advisory firm based in Portland, Oregon, where he is a licensed professional engineer. Drew manages the firm, providing owner’s engineering, technical due diligence, and training services around utility-scale energy storage projects. Prior to joining PowerSwitch, Drew worked as Principal Consultant on DNV’s Energy Storage Engineering team, where he led desktop and field projects for some of the world’s largest battery plants. He holds an engineering degree from Cornell University. Drew started his career in Panama and Haiti, where he lived for a combined 12 years. These experiences continue to inspire his involvement in Energy Access, an industry working to attract sustainable investment to connect the 500m+ people in the world living without reliable access to electricity.

Swetha is an experienced energy professional with close to ten years experience in the rapidly expanding energy storage industry. She currently serves as Director of Energy Storage Project Design at leading renewables developer RWE Clean Energy. Swetha is based in Austin, Texas and has niche, hands-on experience energy in the battery energy storage space as both project developer and independent engineer. Prior to RWE, Swetha worked at leading independent engineering firm DNV, and utilities PG&E and AES Indiana. Her experience is backed by robust knowledge of energy market fundamentals and techno-economic analysis. She has a Master’s degree from Purdue University.

I’m an energy storage engineer and musician based in Portland, Oregon. After a decade of wind energy consulting, I shifted to energy storage to further help with the energy transition. I work for Akaysha Energy and develop utility-scale BESS projects, providing technical support and specializing in utility interconnection. I hold a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and previously acted in several roles for DNV’s wind turbine testing accredited laboratory, including Project Manager, Engineer, and Quality Manager. When not engineering, I compose and perform original music in Portland, Oregon.