Biden Admin Provides $550 Million for Long-Duration Energy Storage

By Anjali Joshi

On May 12, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) started a US$505 million four-year initiative to support the commercialization of emerging long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies that can power grids for at least 10 hours. Funding for the Long Duration Energy Storage for Everyone, Everywhere (LD ESEE) program was made available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

LDES technologies are expected to gain significant traction in the market as more wind and solar is deployed . LDES enables the capture and storage of clean energy for longer durations, to be used when electricity generation is unavailable or lower than demand.

The initiative aims to increase the deployment of LDES solutions by lowering their costs and enhancing their energy storage capacity. As part of the initiative, the DOE will implement three energy storage demonstration programs: general energy storage demonstration projects, grants for pilot projects, and specific long-duration demonstrations. The focus on demonstration projects and pilot programs is to de-risk the technology adoption at scale in the long term.

Through this $505 million initiative, along with the Long Duration Storage Shot initiative announced in July 2021, the DOE aims to drive down the costs of LDES technologies to US$0.05/kWh by 2030. Cost reduction in LDES technologies will primarily depend on R&D, and the degree of efficiency achieved by manufacturers. The DOE is also collaborating with the Department of Defence for long duration storage demonstrations on government facilities. The DOE has launched RFI (Request for Information) for optimal implementation of its LDES program by June 16, 2022.

While several LDES technologies are currently under R&D phase, other mechanical, thermal, and electrochemical LDES technologies are commercially available. These include vanadium and iron flow batteries, compressed air storage and pumped hydro storage However, for many of these technologies the high cost is currently hindering their large-scale adoption; the application of pumped hydro storage is limited by geography.

In the recent past, many Li-ion battery energy storage systems with four, six, and even eight-hour duration, entered the market. At present these lithium-ion batteries are the most competitive in terms of providing LDES, as major manufacturers of these batteries have already achieved economies of scale.

But despite enjoying a competitive advantage over other LDES technologies currently in focus, Li-ion-based LDES systems experience significant challenges that could present openings for other technologies. Large Li-ion battery energy storage systems are currently very expensive and increasing the energy storage duration of these systems further increases their cost. In contrast, the cost of long-duration battery technologies like vanadium flow and iron flow increases marginally with increase in duration, thus making them more cost-effective for larger system sizes.

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Source: Long Duration Energy Storage for Everyone, Everywhere Initiative Notice of Intent and Request for Information (U.S. Department of Energy)

News coverage: DOE provides $505M to advance long-duration energy storage fed by renewables (UtilityDive)