Fourier Is Solving Long-Duration Storage with On-Site Hydrogen

Siva Yellamraju is the co-founder and CEO of Fourier, a company building modular, on-site hydrogen systems for long-duration energy storage and distributed hydrogen production. Fourier’s approach combines lithium-ion batteries for short-duration needs with hydrogen storage for longer durations, packaged into a single system designed to operate like a microgrid.

In this episode of Inevitable, Yellamraju explains why hydrogen has long been considered promising for multi-day, seasonal, and even multi-year energy storage, but has struggled because of the cost and complexity of transporting it. He argues that producing hydrogen where it is needed can remove that transportation challenge and unlock a different cost curve for long-duration storage.

The conversation explores Fourier’s modular “hydrogen blade” architecture, its first storage deployment in Gujarat, India, and the growing demand for alternatives to diesel generators as data centers require increasingly large amounts of backup power. Yellamraju also discusses why levelized cost of storage matters more than round-trip efficiency, India’s potential role in energy manufacturing, and his transition from software and data centers into building physical energy infrastructure.

Note: Fourier is an MCJ portfolio company.