OCED issues notice of intent to allocate up to $100 million for lithium-free long-term energy storage pilot projects

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstration (OCED) issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) for up to $100 million to fund pilot-scale energy storage demonstration projects focusing on non-lithium technologies, long-duration systems (10+ hours discharge), and stationary storage applications. This funding—made possible by President Biden’s bipartisan Infrastructure Act—will support the development of a diverse set of non-lithium long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies toward commercial viability and utility-scale deployment, an integral component of a clean, reliable grid system to achieve a clean energy economy with net-zero emissions.

Demand for clean, reliable electricity in the U.S. continues to grow, driven primarily by demand sectors such as residential and commercial buildings, industry and transportation, and the expansion of data centers for information processing. The DOE estimates that the U.S. will need about 700-900 GW of additional clean, steady-state capacity to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Meanwhile, variable renewable energy sources such as solar and wind are expected to grow significantly in the coming years, accounting for the majority of new capacity additions. Short-term energy storage already supports the grid, but continued deployment of variable renewable energy could push demand beyond existing energy storage systems. To support the growing reliance on variable renewable energy, LDES systems will play a key role in providing dispatchable backup capacity that can be deployed when needed to ensure grid resilience.

This investment is part of the Long-Duration Energy Storage Technology Demonstration Pilot Program to advance various LDES technologies toward commercial viability and industrial-scale deployment, generate high-quality operational data sets and techno-economic models that advance the technology readiness level of these systems, and build confidence in the real-world performance and cost-effectiveness of LDES solutions. The funding will support technology maturation activities, including design for manufacturability, pilot system development, fabrication and installation, operational testing and validation, and commercial-scale system design and supply chain development.

With this funding, OCED plans to fund 3-15 projects, offering $5-20 million each with a minimum non-federal cost share of 50% per project. Projects will require applicants to have a team that includes a technology vendor and encourage the inclusion of utilities, facility owners/operators, developers, financiers, and others who support a clear path to commercial adoption.

DOE expects to solicit funding in late summer/early fall. For more information, visit the LDES portfolio website here. See NOI here.