DOE picks 10 winners of grid

Batteries that store and release heat at times of demand dominate federal awards of $300,000.

A Houston developer of cryogenic compressed air stored in vacuum-insulated pressure vessels, a Los Angeles long-duration energy storage company that integrates with offshore renewables and a Massachusetts company making a battery that converts and stores renewable electricity as high-temperature heat are among 10 winners of a federal innovation prize recognizing grid-scale energy storage ideas and products.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity announced Monday the winners of its American-Made Energy Storage Innovations Prize, awarding a total of $300,000.

The award focuses on emerging technologies that disrupt or advance state-of-the-art energy storage research. As part of DOE's Storage Innovations 2030 initiative, the prize helps industry develop new technologies with the potential to meet grid reliability, equity and decarbonization goals, DOE said.

"Cost-effective, long-duration and grid-scale energy storage is essential to supporting the nation's electric infrastructure in the transition to clean energy," said Gene Rodrigues, assistant secretary for electricity.

The Energy Storage Innovations Prize showcases U.S. innovation across a "wide spectrum" of energy storage research, he said.

DOE announced five "Storage Innovations Champions" to receive $50,000 each and five "Storage Innovations Finalists" to receive $10,000 each.

Storage Innovations Champions:

Storage Innovations Finalists:

Submissions were judged on the innovation's quality, including a pathway to DOE's levelized cost of storage goals, strength of the plan and other benefits such as supply chain considerations and equity, DOE said.

The Energy Storage Innovations prize also supports the Energy Storage Grand Challenge and Long Duration Storage Shot, which aim to reduce by 2030 the cost of grid-scale energy storage by 90% for systems that deliver 10 or more hours of electricity. DOE said it is considering all types of technologies, including electrochemical, mechanical, thermal, chemical carriers, and more.

At a virtual networking event on Wednesday, winners will have five to 10 minutes to introduce their technology proposal to industry experts and potential collaborators.