Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday announced a pair of prizes aimed at boosting adoption and integration of behind-the-meter, or BTM, technologies and innovative solutions for unconventional energy storage use cases.
- The Beyond the Meter: Energy Storage Integration Prize could award two teams up to $100,000 each for technologies that showcase product integration and management of BTM, grid-edge energy storage systems. Winners will be expected to showcase their technology at DISTRIBUTECH in March, in Dallas.
- DOE also previewed the second round of its Energy Storage Innovations Prize, which will be focused on less-conventional use cases, including storage systems in remote or underserved communities and extreme climates. Winners can receive up to $50,000.
Dive Insight:
Consumers are increasingly purchasing distributed energy resources like solar panels, electric vehicles and backup batteries but “the benefits of these emerging technologies remain difficult to access,” DOE said. The two prizes announced last week aim to speed adoption and open access to those benefits, in particular for grid-edge and unconventional use cases.
“The Beyond the Meter prize opportunity will help stakeholders unlock the potential of behind-the-meter storage and create value for consumers empowering them with greater control of their energy usage and bills,” Assistant Secretary for Electricity Gene Rodrigues said in a statement.
And in the second round of the Energy Storage Innovations Prize, “we are focusing on innovative technologies to help underserved U.S. communities,” he said. “Advancements in energy storage are key to creating a 21st century electric grid that is reliable, resilient, secure, and affordable for all Americans.”
The Beyond the Meter competition is a “one-phase prize” with a total prize pool of $200,000, DOE said. Up to two winning teams will receive up to $100,000; half of the prize will be awarded when winners are announced and the other half after the team participates at DISTRIBUTECH.
Applicants will need to describe their BTM grid-edge technology solution “and how it could support improved integration, communication, and control of grid-edge ESSs with different types of energy resources and systems that span different technologies, vendors, and manufacturers,” according to the rules for the Beyond the Meter prize.
DOE will hold a Sept. 24 webinar to discuss the prize. The deadline to apply is Dec. 12, and winners are expected to be announced March 12.
The timing of the second phase of the Energy Storage Innovations Prize has not been finalized yet but DOE said it will focus on “innovative, emerging, and next-generation energy storage solutions for niche markets.” The prize will have a total pool of $300,000, with $50,000 going to up to five winners and $10,000 to up to five finalists.
There is a tentative Dec. 20 application deadline, according to the prize’s web site, with winners possibly announced in February.
Winners of the first phase were announced in February 2023 and included: Cryostone, in Houston; Los Angeles-based RCAM Technologies; Gravity Power in Santa Barbara, California; Electrified Thermal Solutions of Medford, Massachusetts; and KineticCore Solutions out of Loveland, Colorado.
