The U.S. Department of Energy and partners seeking to speed the commercialization of long-duration energy storage announced Wednesday a two-year memorandum of understanding, or MOU, to support the development and domestic manufacture of technologies to meet all U.S. market demands by 2030.
The partnership brings together the Department of Energy with industry experts for “milestone-driven activities and engagements,” said Anna Siefken, senior advisor for the Office of Technology Transitions.
Parties to the agreement include DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions, the Edison Electric Institute, Electric Power Research Institute and Long Duration Energy Storage Council.
Under the MOU, the parties will back the DOE’s Long Duration Storage Shot, which aims to reduce the cost of grid-scale energy storage with more than 10 hours of duration by 90% within the decade.
Partners will collaborate with long-duration energy storage experts to expand the marketplace, provide technical assistance and seek solutions to nontechnical barriers to deployment. The MOU will help disseminate knowledge about the technological, economic and resilience benefits brought about by long-duration energy storage.
In addition, it will provide access to specific DOE and national lab core competencies in energy storage and energy infrastructure to support research, development, demonstration and deployment.
The MOU also seeks to convene regulators, electric companies, technology vendors and the financial community to identify barriers to LDES deployment and potential solutions.
Energy storage is key to accelerating grid decarbonization, with shorter duration energy storage being installed to support renewable energy generation and long-duration storage technologies working with grid operators during seasonal fluctuations in electricity demand, according to a March 8 news release announcing the MOU.
Cheaper and more efficient storage can make it easier to capture and store renewable clean energy for use when energy generation is unavailable, DOE said.
“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 Vanessa Chan, the U.S. Department of Energy’s chief commercialization officer and director of the Office of Technology Transitions.
