The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) is putting $2.4 million toward next-generation energy storage technologies.
The goal of the funding is to ween the U.S. off of fossil fuels and accomplish the Biden administration's goal of a green electricity grid by 2035, the DOE reported in a release.
"By validating new options for electricity storage, these projects will move us toward achieving the cost and performance goals of DOE's Long Duration Storage Shot—to reduce the cost of grid-scale energy storage by 90 percent for systems that deliver 10 or more hours of duration in one decade," Jennifer Wilcox, FECM's acting assistant secretary, said in the release.
The three projects DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory will oversee are the Sand Thermal Energy Storage Pilot Design, which the DOE is funding for $796,253; Hydrogen Storage for Load-Following and Clean Power: Duct-Firing of Hydrogen to Improve the Capacity Factor of Natural Gas Combined Cycle, which the DOE is funding for $800,000; and Economically Viable Intermediate to Long Duration Hydrogen Energy Storage Solutions for Fossil Fueled Assets, which the DOE is funding for $798,053, the DOE reported.
These projects are intended to make storing thermal and hydrogen energy cheaper, last longer and more reliable, the DOE reported. The technologies used in the projects should be able to assist with phasing out fossil fuels in favor of methods that rely less on carbon energy.
