Long Duration Energy Storage funding opportunity for up to $350 million

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations seeks long duration energy storage (LDES) demonstration projects that will validate new technologies, enhance the capabilities of customers and communities to integrate grid storage more effectively, and sustain American global leadership in energy storage.

The FOA intends to provide up to $350 million for emerging LDES demonstration projects capable of delivering electricity for 10 to 24 hours or longer. DOE will provide financial assistance through cooperative agreements to fund up to 50% of the cost of each project.

This funding opportunity is for both lithium-based energy storage and non-lithium-based systems.

Eligibility 

Eligible applicants include individuals, institutions of higher education, for-profit and non-profit organizations, state and local governments, and Tribal Nations.

The LDES demonstration projects are encouraged to engage with local and regional stakeholders to ensure that they generate local, regional, and national benefits. In addition, the demonstration projects are expected to carry out meaningful community and labor engagement; invest in America’s workforce by creating good-paying jobs with the free and fair choice to join a union; advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and contribute to the President’s Justice40 Initiative goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments, including those in climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, flow to disadvantaged communities.

Download the full funding opportunity for more information on eligibility.

Funding  

OCED expects to make up to 11 awards between $9.5 to 70M each with a minimum of a 50% cost-sharing from the awardees.

Key Dates

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law appropriates $505 million for the development of LDES demonstrations to validate new technologies and enhance the capabilities of customers and communities to more effectively integrate grid storage.

Lower-cost LDES can increase local control of the power system, build resilience for communities, minimize power grid disruptions, and help reach President Biden’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035 and net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Long Duration Energy Storage Council released a report during COP27 that quantifies the impact of thermal energy storage (TES) to deliver low-cost, reliable, secure and clean net-zero heat, complemented by other LDES technologies. According to the 2022 LDES benchmark results, thermal energy storage can enable cost-efficient electrification and decarbonization of the most widely used heat applications, and the findings establish the need for thermal storage to be part of an integrated energy system that includes electrical and molecular storage in order to further accelerate a decarbonized energy system. The DOE program aims to fund demonstration projects that will move LDES forward in the United States by overcoming barriers to deployment.