The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $17.9 million in funding for four research and development projects to scale up American manufacturing of flow battery and long-duration storage systems. This funding will help provide the materials needed to expand the grid with new, clean energy sources, deliver affordable electricity to disadvantaged communities, and help reach the Biden Administration’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“We’re moving at lightning speed to harness renewables and access to long duration storage is critical for dispatching this clean energy for use whenever and wherever it’s needed,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “DOE’s investment to boost battery storage technology coupled with our first-ever Energy Storage for Social Equity Initiative will help generate jobs, build more resilient communities and ensure cleaner, healthier for all Americans.”
Flow batteries are electrochemical batteries that use externally stored electrolytes, making them less expensive, safer, and more flexible and adaptable. Selected projects will work to improve manufacturing processes for individual flow battery components and integrate those new or improved components into a prototype system with a mid-sized capacity for grid and industrial applications.
Selected Projects Include:
- Largo Clean Energy and partners (Wilmington, MA) will receive $4.19 million to develop and demonstrate highly efficient manufacturing processes for affordable, grid-scale flow batteries.
- TreadStone Technologies, Inc. and partners (Princeton, NJ) will receive $4.99 million to develop roll-to-roll technology for manufacturing metallic electrodes and bipolar plates, which are essential components of flow batteries.
- OTORO Energy Inc. and partners (Broomfield, CO) will receive $4.14 million to improve the cost, scalability, and performance of existing flow battery technology through a metal chelate flow battery system.
- Quino Energy, Inc. and partners (Menlo Park, CA) will receive $4.58 million to strengthen the U.S. domestic flow battery manufacturing ecosystem by developing and executing a scalable, cost‐effective, and continuous process for producing aqueous organic flow battery reactants.
This investment is part of DOE’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge and will be critical to achieving the department-wide Long Duration Storage Shot goal of reducing the cost of grid-scale energy storage by 90% within the decade.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) will fund, support, and manage the selected RDD&D projects. DOE’s Office of Electricity (OE) will fund final testing and validation of selected projects at U.S. national laboratory facilities, including Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Grid Storage Launchpad; Sandia National Laboratory's Energy Storage Test Pad, Battery Test Facility, and Battery Abuse Testing Laboratory; and Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Grid Research Integration and Deployment Center.