The U.S. Department of Energy has selected four organizations to receive $1.2 million to assist in the development of battery energy storage solutions in disadvantaged communities.
DOE’s Energy Storage for Social Equity initiative, known as ES4SE, is funded through the agency’s Office of Electricity and managed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories. The funds announced last week are part of an initial round of project development and deployment assistance cost-sharing, but more awards could be made in the fourth quarter.
Groups selected include:
- Native Renewables, which helps households in the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe install off-grid residential solar+storage systems;
- Hoʻāhu Energy Cooperative Moloka’i deploys residential islanded solar and battery storage nano-grids to households on the Hawaiian island of Moloka’i. DOE’s assistance will help support a battery energy storage system and assist with the cooperative’s workforce development program;
- Coast Electric Power Association in Mississippi is working with the Hancock County Utility Authority to install battery storage at a wastewater treatment plant. The storage system will also connect to a voltage distribution loop to provide resilience;
- Ayika Solutions and Capital to Coast Collaborative partners will deploy energy storage for the Harambee House Resiliency Hub in Savannah, Georgia. Creative Solar will supply and install a solar array for the project which will serve dozens of local residents during power outages.
“These organizations are fully engaged with ES4SE to find energy storage solutions in their communities,” Gene Rodrigues, assistant secretary for electricity in the Office of Electricity, said in a statement. “We believe their participation will result in improved resilience, energy affordability, and prosperity where they live.”
The organizations were part of a larger group of 14 that DOE selected last year to receive technical assistance. More than 60 organizations applied for assistance through the ES4SE program.
