The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) along with its partners proudly announce the signing of a milestone Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further accelerate the commercialization of long-duration energy storage (LDES).
Office of Technology Transitions
June 27, 2023
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Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) along with its partners proudly announce the signing of a milestone Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further accelerate the commercialization of long-duration energy storage (LDES). Parties involved include the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), the Edison Electric Institutes’ Institute for the Energy Transition, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and the Long Duration Energy Storage Council (LDES Council).
Long-duration energy storage is crucial to facilitating the transition to clean energy. As renewable energy sources such as wind and solar become more prevalent, managing energy supply over extended periods becomes increasingly vital. Long-duration energy storage is key to addressing these challenges by ensuring stored energy is available to balance seasonal fluctuations in electricity demand and supply, thus fortifying grid stability and reliability.
The signed MOU establishes three primary pillars for collaboration, all of which will support the development and domestic manufacture of energy storage technologies that can meet all U.S. market demands by 2030, including the DOE’s Long Duration Storage Shot, which establishes a target to reduce the cost of grid-scale energy storage by 90% for systems that deliver 10+ hours of duration within the decade:
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Facilitate the understanding and dissemination of knowledge about the technological, economic, and resilience benefits afforded by long duration energy storage.
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Provide access to specific DOE and national lab core competencies in energy storage and energy infrastructure integration for supporting research, development, demonstration, and deployment purposes.
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Benefit from the knowledge provided individually by regulators, electric companies, technology vendors, and the financial community to identify barriers to LDES deployment and potential solutions to those barriers.
“This critically important MOU and the partnership it represents will help to swiftly move the market towards the ambitious goals that DOE has established for long duration energy storage, and aligns key industry stakeholders around a set of goals and objectives that will certainly impact our clean energy trajectory,” said Anna J. Siefken, Senior Advisor, who serves as the LDES industry engagement lead and who spearheaded the MOU effort. “This initiative represents a strong and long-term commitment to LDES across the Department.”
Over the coming months, the MOU will result in several key actions. DOE and the Parties plan to:
- Create opportunities to leverage the key findings from DOE’s Long Duration Energy Storage Liftoff report.
- Initiate engagements with industry stakeholders to share insights and expertise, and then to outline collective ideas to address barriers.
- Highlight and map LDES technologies that are moving from innovation and pilot to market maturity and scale.
- Host an industry-focused LDES technical summit in 2024.
Dr. Vanessa Z. Chan, DOE Commercialization Officer and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions, stated, “The signing of this MOU reinforces the collaborative spirit required to accelerate the development and deployment of long-duration energy storage. It is imperative to our clean energy future, and I am excited to see what we can achieve together.”
The involvement of key industry stakeholders, the DOE, and national labs ensures a diverse and complementary set of skills and knowledge that will be pivotal in identifying and tackling the complex challenges associated with scaling LDES technologies. Through this partnership, the aim is to fortify the electric grid, support domestic manufacturing, and promote the comprehensive integration of renewable energy sources into the U.S. energy mix.
About the Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions
The Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) is one of the largest supporters of technology commercialization in the federal government. Founded in 2015, OTT bolsters the technology industry's market skills and enables clean energy technologies to progress through research, development, demonstration, and to deployment into the private sector to meet our nation’s climate goals. Visit us at energy.gov/technologytransitions to learn more, and subscribe to receive our latest opportunities and accomplishments via email. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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