Clean Energy Demonstrations

Demonstration projects of innovative technologies are an important step between research and development and wide-scale commercial use. The results of a demonstration project show groups interested in investing in or using a new technology how that technology will perform—proving its economic and practical viability. 

In December 2021, DOE established the Office of the Clean Energy Demonstrations with a mission to deliver clean energy demonstration projects at scale in partnership with the private sector to accelerate deployment, market adoption, and the equitable transition to a decarbonized energy system.  

Demonstrating a new energy technology at a larger scale and in real-world conditions is vital to proving that it will work, both economically and practically. It also provides important lessons to improve cost, reliability, environmental benefits, and commercial uses that if unaddressed will leave the technology unable to compete against other technologies and eventually fade away. The results from demonstration projects help potential investors, industries, and users determine if a specific technology can support their future energy, financial, geographic, and cultural needs. Demonstrations help innovative ideas come to life by proving out the technology in real-world settings and taking on risk to test brand-new technology.

Bringing innovative technologies and their benefits to the American people involves some degree of risk that things won’t work the way they did during research and development. Many investors and customers are not willing or able to take those risks. That’s where the U.S. Department of Energy comes in to ensure that great ideas have the opportunity to show off their great potential. Demonstration projects use federal dollars, as well as the Department’s unique technical expertise and oversight to understand risks and how to avoid or mitigate them so that the private sector feels more comfortable investing in them. Small amounts of public capital at the early stages of a technology are intended to drive much larger investments from the private sector later.  

Investing today in demonstration projects (e.g., a technological hurdle at a scale not previously tested, buying down financial risk, addressing offtake challenges, or overcoming regulatory constraints) with strategic funding, expertise, and high-tech facilities paves a pathway for investors to fund emerging clean energy technologies that can help us meet our long-term economic and emissions-reduction goals. 

DOE is focused on demonstrating and deploying the highest impact clean energy projects to benefit communities across the nation—by lowering energy costs, cutting carbon emissions, and creating new industries with the high-quality union jobs that are positioned to boost domestic manufacturing capabilities while strengthening U.S. global competitiveness. By demonstrating clean energy technologies today, DOE will help put Americans in construction, skilled trades, and engineering fields to work—now and in the future—building a new clean energy infrastructure and economy that serves us all.