POWER’s Rising Star Award focuses on people who’ve had a optimistic impression on the ability technology sector early of their careers. Naphtal Haya, Observe Lead, Lengthy Length Vitality Storage at DNV Vitality USA, is a kind of folks. Haya in a brief time period has established himself as a trusted technical authority in terms of long-duration vitality storage (LDES), supporting the deployment of applied sciences important to grid reliability, renewable integration, and the vitality transition.
Haya has pushed DNV’s initiative to increase the corporate’s technical management past standard lithium-ion battery programs. He has led and supported impartial engineering and advisory engagements throughout residential, business and industrial, and utility-scale vitality storage merchandise, instantly informing funding selections and undertaking execution. His work has strengthened DNV’s capabilities in rising applied sciences together with circulate batteries, metal-air batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and smart thermal vitality storage. Haya has translated advanced system-level dangers into bankable engineering assessments, serving to speed up the commercialization of next-generation storage applied sciences. His work has aligned along with his group’s continued emphasis on innovation and sensible outcomes.
“Naphtal stands out as a result of he has executed one thing the vitality storage sector urgently wants: he has translated technical uncertainty right into a sensible, financeable framework,” mentioned Jamie Daggett, Vitality Storage & Gasoline Cell Lead at Ariel Inexperienced, a expertise efficiency insurance coverage group. “His work on the LDES Bankability Scorecard, together with the Deployment Maturity Index, provides buyers, builders, insurers, and different market contributors a extra disciplined option to consider long-duration vitality storage applied sciences primarily based on subject reliability, deployment scale, geographic range, and repeatability. That kind of labor is very helpful as a result of it helps transfer the market past broad expertise claims and towards goal proof of business readiness. Naphtal combines deep technical credibility with a transparent understanding of what’s required to make rising storage applied sciences bankable, which makes him exceptionally deserving of POWER’s Rising Star recognition.”
Haya has a level in bioengineering from Harvard College, graduating cum laude in 2022. His tutorial analysis on aqueous natural redox circulate batteries addressed membrane-electrolyte compatibility, ionic crossover, and system-level trade-offs between vitality and energy density. His work has been revealed in journals of the American Chemical Society and the Electrochemical Society. He’s recognized for bridging analysis and engineering rigor with and real-world deployment, supporting enhanced decision-making for utilities, builders, and buyers navigating rising vitality storage applied sciences.
“From day one at DNV, Naphtal has demonstrated initiative nicely past his years. He brings mental curiosity, self-discipline, and a real dedication to advancing the vitality storage trade by his shopper work, thought management, and community-building efforts within the LDES area,” mentioned Michael Kleinberg, Vice President-Vitality Storage Advisory at DNV. “He’s precisely the type of rising chief this award is supposed to acknowledge. It’s been an absolute pleasure to mentor Naphtal throughout his profession at DNV and watch him grow to be certainly one of our trade’s subsequent nice leaders.”
Haya’s work within the energy sector contains thought management and trade engagement. He has been interviewed as an issue skilled for Inexperienced America, and has authored articles in World Mining Evaluation that look at battery provide chain danger, ethics, and circularity. He’s a frequent speaker at main trade conferences, together with The Battery Present and Intersolar Vitality Storage North America, and serves on the advisory boards of The Battery Present and Fastmarkets. He additionally based and moderates the World LDES Commercialization Discussion board on LinkedIn and publishes FairGreen, each of which promote knowledge-sharing and speed up adoption of LDES options.
“What makes Naphtal particularly spectacular is the breadth of his contribution to the vitality storage market at such an early stage in his profession,” mentioned Daggett. “His work spans electrochemical analysis, impartial technical diligence, undertaking finance, danger allocation, provide chain danger, and long-duration storage commercialization. From his early circulate battery analysis at Harvard to his present work at DNV advising on technical due diligence and rising storage applied sciences, Naphtal has constantly targeted on the sensible obstacles that decide whether or not new applied sciences can transfer from promising ideas to financeable infrastructure. His thought management on LDES procurement, danger therapy, undertaking financing, and bankability has helped advance a extra severe and commercially grounded dialog round long-duration storage. He’s precisely the kind of rising chief the Rising Star Award is supposed to acknowledge.”
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
