DOE awards $325M for 15 long-duration energy storage projects
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday awarded up to $325 million to 15 projects across 17 states and one tribal nation that will accelerate the development of long-duration energy storage technologies.
The funding, part of the DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, and part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will support demonstration projects that increase community control of local power systems, mitigate risks associated with disruptions to the grid, and help communities develop reliable and affordable energy systems. The DOE also said the project will help advance energy storage technologies, enhance clean energy adoption and reduce extreme weather impacts on the grid.
“As we build our clean energy future, reliable energy storage systems will play a key role in protecting communities by providing dependable sources of electricity when and where it’s needed most, particularly in the aftermath of extreme weather events or natural disasters,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, DOE is supporting game-changing energy storage projects across the nation—laying the foundation for the innovative solutions we need to ensure stronger, more resilient communities.”
Projects receiving awards include:
- The Communities Accessing Resilient Energy Storage (CARES) project by the Red Lake Nation in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Petaluma, California, which aims to use retired EV batteries to provide demand reduction, load shifting and resilience to two affordable housing complexes and a Red Lake Nation workforce development campus;
- Second life Smart Systems (SMART) in Atlanta, Georgia, San Diego, California, Orangeburg, South Carolina, Denmark, South Carolina, and New Orleans, Louisiana, seeks to use retired electric vehicle batteries to build stationary storage systems;
- Multiday Iron Air Demonstration (MIND) in Becker, Minnesota, and Pueblo, Colorado, will be led by Xcel Energy in partnership with Form Energy. The project seeks to accelerate the commercialization and market development of multiday storage, including by deploying two 10 megawatt 100-hour long duration energy storage systems at retiring coal plants in Minnesota and Colorado.
- And Children’s Hospital Resilient Grid with Energy Storage (CHARGES) in Madera, California, will install a 34.4-megawatt-hour battery system for the Valley Children’s Hospital to provide critical power backups for the acute care hospital.
