Energy Department invests $325 million in new batteries that can store surplus renewable energy

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: PBS News Hour

Sep 22, 2023 12:50 PM EDT


The Energy Department has announced a $325 million investment in new battery types that can help turn solar and wind energy into 24-hour power. The funds will be distributed among 15 projects in 17 states and the Red Lake Nation, a Native American tribe based in Minnesota.

Batteries are increasingly being used to store surplus renewable energy so that it can be used later, during times when there is no sunlight or wind. The department says the projects will protect more communities from blackouts and make energy more reliable and affordable.

“Everywhere in the U.S. has issues with intermittent renewable energy … every day the sun sets and you have to be able to take the energy that you produced during the day and use that at nighttime,” said Christopher Rahn, professor of mechanical engineering at Pennsylvania State University. The new funding is for “long-term” storage, meaning options that can last for longer than the four hours typical of lithium ion batteries.

Storage that can keep putting out energy from sundown to sun up, or for several overcast days at a time, is the fervent work of thousands of engineers around the world right now because it’s a serious way to address climate change, by allowing natural gas or coal-fired power plants to turn off.

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/energy-department-invests-325-million-in-new-batteries-that-can-store-surplus-renewable-energy

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Dept. of Energy announcement - https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-325-million-long-duration-energy-storage-projects

Department of Energy

Biden-Harris Administration Announces $325 Million For Long-Duration Energy Storage Projects to Increase Grid Resilience and Protect America’s Communities

September 22, 2023

Energy.gov Biden-Harris Administration Announces $325 Million For Long-Duration Energy Storage Projects to Increase Grid Resilience and Protect America’s Communities



DOE Funding for 15 Projects Will Help Advance Energy Storage Technologies, Enhance Clean Energy Adoption, and Reduce Impacts on the Grid from Climate Change-Fueled Extreme Weather Events

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda,

a key pillar of Bidenomics, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to $325 million for 15 projects across 17 states and one tribal nation to accelerate the development of long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies. Funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these demonstration projects will increase community control of local power systems, mitigate risks associated with disruptions to the grid, and help communities develop reliable and affordable energy systems. Today’s announcement will help DOE realize its Long Duration Storage Shot goal of reducing the cost of LDES by 90% by 2030 and supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to advance critical clean energy technologies, expand the adoption of renewable energy resources, and strengthen America’s energy security.

“As we build our clean energy future, reliable energy storage systems will play a key role in protecting communities by providing dependable sources of electricity when and where it’s needed most, particularly in the aftermath of extreme weather events or natural disasters,” said U.S Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, DOE is supporting game-changing energy storage projects across the nation—laying the foundation for the innovative solutions we need to ensure stronger, more resilient communities.”

Energy storage is essential to enabling utilities and grid operators to effectively adopt and utilize the nation’s growing portfolio of clean energy resources, like solar and wind, on demand. However, today’s energy storage technologies are not sufficiently scaled or affordable to support the broad use of renewable energy on the grid. According to DOE’s Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: LDES report, cheaper, longer, and more efficient storage is needed to meet energy demand that fluctuates throughout the day and night. For example, solar power generated during the day could be stored for nighttime use or nuclear energy generated in low demand periods can be used when demand increases. 

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More: https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-325-million-long-duration-energy-storage-projects

[Think. Again.]

1. What an excellent way to...

...'road-test" the wide variety of possible LDES technologies, in real time and in real-life situations.

[MaeScott]

2. Just warms my heart (pun intended)

[KY_EnviroGuy]

3. New age version of the Strategic Oil Reserve.

Thank you, President Biden and Secretary Granholm.

In some practical form, we need this nationwide.....mechanical, chemical and/or electrical!

KY

[NNadir]

4. Storing energy is a wasteful exercise, as is irrefutably obvious from the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

The popularity of the idea of storing energy when energy remains overwhelmingly produced by ever increasing quantities of dangerous fossil fuels will mark us in history as irredeemable fools.

It's an obscene idea.

So called "renewable energy" is a failure and the fantasy that it produces significant energy justifying energy storage is another example of how wishful thinking is destructive. Storing energy when primary energy is dirty is a very, very, very, very bad idea.

I love the President, but this is bad policy, perhaps popular policy, but bad policy.

We saw concentrations of the dangerous fossil fuel waste carbon dioxide in the planetary atmosphere over 424 ppm this past May, this less than 10 years after we first saw readings over 400 ppm.

We'll see carbon dioxide concentrations next May over 426 ppm, probably around 427 ppm,

History will not forgive us nor should it.