The U.S. Department of Energy and partners have announced progress toward a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to accelerate the commercialization of long-duration energy storage (LDES). Parties to the MOU, announced during CERAWeek, include:
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT)
- Edison Electric Institutes’ (EEI’s) Institute for the Energy Transition
- EPRI
- Long Duration Energy Storage Council (LDES Council).
Long-duration energy storage can aid grid operators in managing the seasonal changes in demand for electricity. Efficient and cost-effective storage can help capture renewable energy for utilization during the times when there exists a dearth of energy generation, thereby boosting the dependability and stability of the grid.
Under the two-year MOU, partners will collaborate with long-duration energy storage experts on ways to expand the marketplace. Together, they will provide technical assistance and explore solutions to non-technical barriers to deployment to accelerate the development and deployment of diverse LDES technologies.
The key goals of the MOU are as follows:
- Call together financiers, electric firms, technology vendors and regulators to identify impediments and discover solutions to overcome such barriers on LDES deployment
- Expedite know-how and the propagation of knowledge concerning the benefits of LDES – economic, technological and resilient.
- Offer access to national and DOE lab competencies in energy infrastructure and energy storage to back R&D, showcasing and deployment.
- Back the domestic development and production of energy storage technologies that can fulfil all market demands in the US through 2030. A key part of these initiatives is the DOE’s Long Duration Storage Shot that sets a target to ensure a 90% reduction in the cost of grid-scale energy storage on systems that deliver over 10 hours within the next 10 years.
“Long-duration energy storage represents an opportunity to fill critical gaps in the grid and serve as a foundational platform for clean energy to power our homes, businesses, and vehicles," said Dr. Vanessa Z. Chan, the U.S. Department of Energy Chief Commercialization Officer, and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions.
