The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) and NETL have announced up to $6 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development projects under the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002332, Energy Storage for Fossil Power Generation.

The FOA seeks applications to (1) advance near-term, system-integrated, energy storage solutions toward commercial deployment with fossil assets; (2) mature promising mid-technology-readiness-level (TRL), component-level energy storage solutions toward eventual system integration with fossil assets; (3) develop innovative, low-TRL concepts and technologies that offer game-changing benefits for fossil assets.

Energy storage combined with fossil energy assets offers a suite of benefits to asset owners, the electricity grid, and consumers. These benefits include a more reliable and affordable energy supply, cleaner environmental performance, and stronger energy infrastructure. The FOA seeks a variety of technology approaches to integrate fossil assets with thermal, chemical, and potential energy storage applications.

The selected projects will support FE’s Advanced Energy Storage Program, which is focused on conducting research and development to advance energy storage technologies and integrate them with fossil assets to reduce barriers to widespread deployment. This program is consistent with DOE’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge, which seeks to position the United States as a world leader in energy storage.

The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage the projects. The FOA focuses on three areas of interest (AOIs) as described below.

AOI 1: Design Studies for Engineering-Scale Prototypes

Projects under this AOI will support the development of feasibility studies and pre-front-end engineering designs to set the stage for subsequent site-specific projects integrating relatively mature combinations of energy storage technologies with fossil-fueled assets.

AOI 2: Component-Level Research and Development

Projects under this AOI will advance the technology readiness level of energy storage technologies that offer a relatively near-term deployment prospect, but need additional work at the component level to reduce risks.

AOI 3: Innovative Concepts and Technologies

Projects under this AOI will support the research of energy storage technologies that are in a relatively early stage of development. This AOI will consist of paper studies validated with modeling, existing/partner-provided data sets, and small-scale experiments.

A webinar is planned for May 14, 2020 to answer questions about this FOA. To register for this, please send an email to this address at least 24 hours prior: DE-FOA-0002332@netl.doe.gov

Also as part of this FOA, the formation of multidisciplinary teams that include technology developers and asset owners/operators is highly encouraged. To support this goal, a team partner list has been included and interested entities can sign up to publicly share their interest in participating as team members on project applications.

The Office of Fossil Energy funds research and development projects to reduce the risk and cost of advanced fossil energy technologies and to further the sustainable use of the Nation’s fossil resources. To learn more about the programs within the Office of Fossil Energy, visit the Office of Fossil Energy website or sign up for FE news announcements. More information about the National Energy Technology Laboratory is available on the NETL website.