This grant opportunity supports technology demonstrations for non-lithium energy storage solutions at the pilot scale. The program aims to advance a diverse set of long-duration (10+ hour discharge) energy storage technologies towards commercial viability, generate high-quality operational data, and build investor confidence in the performance of these technologies. Eligible applicants include state energy offices, Indian Tribes, educational institutions, electric utilities, and private energy storage companies. Concept papers are due October 16, 2024, and full applications are due February 13, 2025. The total available funding is $100 million, with individual awards ranging from $5 million to $20 million. Program goals and objectives
With this program, DOE seeks to directly address challenges in both TRL and ARL, primarily through
increasing confidence in performance and cost characteristics, planning for manufacturability and supply
chain maturation, and engagement with investors and end users. Specifically, this program seeks to:
1. Advance a diverse set of non-lithium long-duration energy storage technologies towards commercial
viability and utility-scale deployment.
2. Generate high-quality operational datasets and techno-economic models.
3. Build investor, utility, and other end user confidence in the real performance and adoptability of the
proposed solutions.
To support the goals of building a clean and equitable energy economy, DOE anticipates supporting projects
that define a robust Community Benefits Plan, including:
1. Supporting meaningful community and labor engagement;
2. Investing in America’s workforce and supporting good jobs;
3. Advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and
4. Contributing to the President’s goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments
flow to disadvantaged communities (the Justice40 Initiative).17
This investment will allow the U.S. to develop more cost-effective, investable long-duration energy storage
technologies and solutions while supporting climate action and providing benefits to communities and
workers.
Award contribution to goals and objectives
In this NOFO, DOE seeks to fund technology demonstrations for energy storage solutions at the pilot-scale.
The program will focus on non-lithium technologies with long-duration (10+ hour) discharge in stationary
storage applications, potentially including electrochemical, mechanical, and/or thermal solutions. Priority
will be given to proposals that include utility, developer, and/or end user members, a plan to demonstrate
the storage technology in an operational environment, and a plan to build investor confidence to secure
support for follow-on projects.
17 The Justice40 Initiative, established by EO 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” January 27, 2021, sets a goal that 40% of the
overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by
pollution. Pursuant to EO 14008 and the Office of Management and Budget’s Interim Implementation Guidance M-21-28 and Addendum M-23-09
guidance, DOE recognizes disadvantaged communities as the census tracts identified as disadvantaged by the White House Council on Environmental
Quality’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), located at https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/, as well as all Federally Recognized
Tribes (whether or not they have land). See https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/M-23-09_Signed_CEQ_CPO.pdf. DOE’s
Justice40 Implementation Guidance is located at https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-
07/Final%20DOE%20Justice40%20General%20Guidance%20072522.pdf.
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DOE is seeking to support projects that can:
• Demonstrate reliable, repeatable technology performance at pilot scale.
• Generate high-fidelity operational data sets that enable quantification of the social cost of GHG
avoided18 from the project as well as anticipated future deployments of the technology.
• Produce high-confidence techno-economic models and cost-down projections from First of a Kind to Nth
of a Kind.
• Refine and optimize system designs for commercial deployments.
• Refine and optimize robust and resilient supply chains.
• Establish partnerships with end-users and financiers for future projects.
Funding priorities
This NOFO will fund demonstrations of a variety of energy storage solutions at pilot-scale to advance
technology maturity, reduce uncertainty in cost and performance characteristics, generate operational
datasets, and increase investor and end-user confidence in technical and commercial maturation pathways
and timelines.
DOE will consider proposals that include (non-exhaustive):
• Electrochemical solutions, including flow and non-flow batteries.
• Mechanical solutions, including both pressure and gravity based.
• Thermal solutions, including sensible, latent and thermochemical heat storage mechanisms
configured for electrical to electrical, electrical to thermal, and thermal to thermal input-output
configurations.
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 maturation.
Technology and System Requirements
In the interest of maximizing funding impact and differentiating this program from related prior and current
DOE efforts, the minimum requirements stated in Table 2 below apply for all projects under this NOFO.
18 Applicants may use the social cost of greenhouse gases calculation such as that developed by the Environmental Protection Agency, found at
https://www.epa.gov/environmental-economics/scghg
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Table 2. System requirements for all projects.
TECHNOLOGY TYPE MINIMUM CAPACITY STRETCH CAPACITY
Electrochemical 100kWDC 1MWDC
Mechanical 1MWAC 5MWAC
Thermal (electric to thermal) 1MWth 5MWth
Thermal (electric to electric) 1MWe 5MWe
Thermal (thermal to thermal) 1MWth 10MWth
Applicants must justify why the size of the system proposed is commercially relevant (i.e., it is the module,
container, or minimum unit size that once validated in this pilot could be duplicated across units for a
commercial-scale project). If deviating from this table or the discharge duration range identified, applicants
must justify their readiness for a pilot-scale demonstration and show a clear development and
demonstration path to commercial viability and market acceptance.
All projects should have an integrated system TRL of 5-6 at the start of the project and a TRL of 7-8 by the
end of the project. All projects are expected to attain at least 10 hours of continuous discharge at or above
the minimum capacity.
Applications should clearly describe the proposed demonstration site, which could be an industrial facility,
grid-connected utility site, a utility testbed, or a laboratory testbed, and explain the rationale for their
selection and approach to apply project results to commercialization efforts. If not proposing to utilize an
existing site, applicants must explain their approach to manage increased execution and schedule risks as
well as their understanding of any required environmental reviews.
Commercialization support activities, such as supply chain maturation and system design for future
developments beyond this pilot, should be limited to ≤15% of the project budget.
The application should describe the intended outcomes from pilot scale testing and the rationale for
developing the pilot at a test facility or an end user facility. Utilizing a test facility will allow the pilot to be
run through a designed test profile to validate key performance characteristics and accumulate long-term
operational and degradation information on the system but may not demonstrate integration with the end
user. Utilizing an operational facility will demonstrate end user integration but, by nature of following the
end user’s required load profile, will more slowly accumulate operational cycles and may not be able to
validate key performance characteristics.
Applications must show a clear path to technology commercialization and follow-on investment, including a
clear articulation of potential cost reduction mechanisms, an investor engagement strategy, a business plan
to scale and enter markets, an assessment of the competitive landscape, a monetization approach for
services provided, and similar relevant commercialization plans.
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DOE anticipates providing awards to teams that are led by a single entity. All applicants are encouraged to
partner with experts in technical engineering support or analysis, lifecycle analysis, commercialization,
financing, and/or community benefits, if none exist within the applicant’s team.
Project Examples
A few examples of projects or components of projects are included below. These are intended to illustrate
the range of potential approaches for clarification only. This list is non-exhaustive.
• Electrochemical: Module validation testing at a utility test bed, including design de-risking
through operational testing campaigns, systems integration designs for commercial asset and
design for commercial manufacturing. Team to include technology provider, facility partner,
commercialization partners, and similar.
• Electrochemical: 100kW-1MW battery energy storage system at an end-user facility, such as
co-located with a renewable generation asset or in a behind the meter configuration at a
commercial sector site. Demonstrate full system integration and operation under real-world
conditions. Validation of operation as a long-duration storage asset. Team to include
technology provider, facility partner, commercialization partners, and similar.
• Mechanical: 1-5MW geothermal pressurized-fluid system installed at an existing abandoned
well or mining site. Off-grid and operational testing, leading to performance validation of fully
integrated system. Team to include technology provider, facility engineering partners, and
similar.
• Thermal: 1-10MW electrical to thermal energy storage system tested in a campaign mode at
an industrial site to offset natural gas fired boiler usage. Team to include technology provider,
industrial facility owner/operator, facility engineering partners, and similar.
Applications Specifically NOT of Interest
• Proposals that use lithium-based energy storage technologies or other technologies that are
deployed at >100MW capacity.
• Proposals that intend to produce a bulk chemical as a storage medium, such as hydrogen or
ammonia.
• Proposals with technologies that cannot achieve a 10-hour continuous discharge duration.
• Proposals that intend to expand or construct a pilot manufacturing line or manufacturing
facility.