DOE invests $15 million in three projects to demonstrate long-duration energy storage technology

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE) announced Wednesday three demonstration projects that have been selected to receive $15 million in funding to demonstrate new long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies.

DTE’s Fully Hybrid Lithium-Ion LDES and Second Life Battery Demonstration Project, CapyBara Energy LLC’s Enabling Sustainable Community Resurgence through Innovative Long-Duration Energy Storage and Resource Recovery (ESTER), and the muGrid Analytics Project VITALITY: Vanadium Innovations Advancing Long-Duration Energy Storage & Impacting Tribal Sovereignty have been identified for the award.

Undersecretary of Electricity Gene Rodrigues said long-duration energy storage improves system reliability and enables every American to benefit from abundant and affordable clean energy.

The U.S. government intends to integrate renewable energy using LDES technology to meet the growing demand for clean, reliable and cost-effective energy. The three innovative demonstration projects selected through this opportunity will help advance the commercialization of energy storage technology and validate its cost and performance in the field.

The latest opportunity will be used for the OEs Rapid Operational Validation (ROVI) program, which will more quickly validate the reliability of new technologies and help new energy storage companies bring their innovations to market faster, the DOE said in an official press release.

Here are the details of the three projects:

Project 1: Demonstration of fully hybrid lithium-ion as LDES and second-life battery

Through this project, DTE Electric aims to demonstrate the benefits of LDES by adding a lithium-ion phosphate battery to its planned hybrid wind and solar generation site at the Pine River Campus.

Federal funding: $5 million

Project 2: Powering Sustainable Community Regeneration through Innovative Long-Duration Energy Storage and Resource Recovery (ESTER)

CapyBara Energy’s project will provide clean electricity to power the environmental remediation of mining waste. It will combine renewable energy with LDES systems to support the heavy industrial processes that make up tailings remediation.

Federal funding: $4,914,285

Project 3: Vanadium innovation promotes long-term energy storage and impacts tribal sovereignty

muGrid Analytics is working with the Bad River Band of the Chippewa Tribe on Lake Superior on a microgrid project to demonstrate the benefits of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) at commercial and industrial scale.

Federal funding: $4,708,005

These selected projects will support DOE programs such as the Long Duration Energy Storage Program and the Energy Storage Grand Challenge, which leverage the extensive research capabilities of DOE national laboratories, universities, and industry. In addition, these projects will help address some of the challenges facing the commercialization of LDES in the U.S. market.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy has pledged to invest $325 million to advance the development of long-duration energy storage (LDES) technology.

(Source: DOE Global Energy Storage Network, New Energy Network Comprehensive)