Speakers

Christian Ward is a Battery Storage Engineer within Southern Company's BESS Fleet Strategy organization, supporting one of the largest utility-scale energy storage programs in the southeastern United States, with more than 50 GWh of planned battery energy storage capacity by 2035. In his role, Christian helps guide how Southern Company evaluates, procures, deploys, and manages battery storage assets to meet evolving reliability, resiliency, and grid modernization needs. His work spans battery technology assessment, OEM and system integrator evaluation, performance modeling, warranty and degradation analysis, engineering standards development, and long-term asset management. He also supports performance testing, reliability analysis, and operational optimization efforts across Southern Company's growing energy storage fleet. Through his experience evaluating emerging battery technologies and managing long-term performance risks, Christian has helped shape utility approaches to technology selection, state-of-health forecasting, warranty evaluation, and lifecycle performance management. Christian holds degrees in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Alabama.