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.

Episode recorded on August 5, 2026 (Published on September 1, 2026).

In this episode, we cover:

(0:00) An overview of Fourier
(1:33) Why hydrogen could work for long-duration energy storage
(4:12) Why centralized hydrogen production creates a transportation problem
(5:31) Making hydrogen storage operate like a battery
(7:08) Why levelized cost matters more than round-trip efficiency
(10:08) How hydrogen stores and returns energy
(12:22) How long hydrogen can remain stored
(13:45) Fourier’s battery-plus-hydrogen microgrid architecture
(14:24) Why Fourier uses a modular “hydrogen blade” design
(15:51) Combining lithium-ion batteries with hydrogen for all storage durations
(16:19) How Fourier’s software optimizes storage, lifetime, and ROI
(17:47) Fourier’s first commercial storage deployment in Gujarat
(19:53) Why Fourier is expanding from hydrogen feedstock into energy storage
(20:32) How AI and data center growth accelerated demand for long-duration storage
(24:24) Replacing diesel generators and solving multiple power needs with one system
(26:55) How hydrogen storage compares with iron-air batteries
(27:50) Why India could become a major energy manufacturing and hydrogen hub
(30:10) The engineering and manufacturing talent Fourier is hiring
(30:39) Transitioning from software to physical energy infrastructure
(34:11) Scaling Fourier to meet growing demand for energy storage

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

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

Inevitable

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