Orkestra’s Co-Founder and Co-CEO James Allston recently joined Hunter Watkin on the Abstraction Podcast to discuss the importance of batteries in the clean energy space and how technology is driving the renewable energy transition. In this podcast episode, James discusses the driving force behind Orkestra and how software, like we've never seen before, is closing the gap in achieving net zero emissions.

The role of Orkestra as a key enabler in achieving Net Zero

In 2021, Bloomberg New Energy Finance released their latest New Energy Outlook declaring that to achieve our climate goals by 2050, the energy industry would need to collectively deploy 5x as much wind power, 3x as much solar and 26x as many batteries as deployed in 2020, every single year to 2030! Massive exponential growth in new energy technology was and still is required. Following the release of these compelling statistics in the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Report in 2021, James, together with Co-Founders Michael Jurasovic and Chris Cooper set on a mission to solve critical issues in achieving such exponential growth and address resource, productivity and time constraints.

It was obvious that the key piece missing from the clean energy puzzle was software capable of preparing feasibility of projects with speed, accuracy and ease, accessible to everyone with a basic understanding of energy, and that could also be rolled out on a global scale. This was an achievable, but non-existent solution. This idea, together with a lot of planning and research resulted in the creation of Orkestra.

Orkestra's effect on industry scalability

Historically Excel has been the tool of choice for running and optimising project solutions, however, this generally required hours of work by a high-skilled and experienced analyst. With the pressing deadline of achieving net zero driving industry decisions, we no longer have the luxury of time to train the analysts required to fulfil this task. This is where Orkestra's software hits at the heart of the renewable energy transition. With Orkestra, you can set up a project and run 250 different solutions in about 10 minutes from start to finish - versus hours or days with Excel and the high-skilled analyst!

Within an hour, you’ve worked out exactly what you’re going to sell your customer, you’ve optimised your solution and your value stack, and you have considered the sizing of the technologies required. This type of speed, accuracy and automation, not only by analysts, but by salespeople, product managers and investors was not possible before the Orkestra tool. Additionally, we can sell faster, sell easier, get more projects happening and deploy more capital quicker without massively scaling up human resources.

Whilst important action is being taken on a global scale to achieve our climate goals, the solution as we see it, lies in software to rapidly accelerate our clean energy deployment. When looking at the data, without the superpower provided by accurate and easy-to-use software like Orkestra, the resources needed to achieve net zero by 2050 simply aren’t there.

James and Hunter discuss

In this podcast, James discusses with Hunter Watkin the humble beginnings of Orkestra – from consultancy to tech start-up, the role of batteries in achieving a renewable energy transition and where challenges lie in deploying Orkestra across the globe. Click here to listen to this incredibly insightful conversation.

Key points discussed include:

• Orkestra’s critical role in achieving net zero globally.
• In front of the meter, behind the meter and utility batteries – where the value lies and why.
• Complexities of energy markets worldwide - the core challenge for tech companies working in the clean energy space.
• Understanding tariffs and the variances in the energy market across Australia.
• Solar installers, commercial organisations and the everyday Aussie homeowner - Who can benefit from the Orkestra tool?

Enjoy!

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