The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced up to $30 million in funding for projects as part of a new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program: Duration Addition to electricitY Storage (DAYS). DAYS project teams will build innovative technologies to enable long-duration energy storage on the power grid, providing reliable electricity for 10 to approximately 100 hours.
"Energy storage will play an increasingly critical role in the resilient grid of the future," according to the statement from the DOE. "Storage systems provide important services, including improving grid stability, providing backup power, and allowing for greater integration of renewable resources." Today’s dominant storage options have limitations that inhibit their use as long-duration solutions, particularly their high cost, the statement said.
“Building the grid of tomorrow will require new tools and technologies to ensure Americans have access to affordable and secure energy,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “At DOE, we are peering over the energy horizon and identifying the key technologies we need to support the power system of the future. These new storage options will offer us the opportunity to make the grid more resilient while enabling greater integration of our domestic energy resources.”
DAYS teams will develop energy storage systems that are deployable in almost any location and discharge electricity at a per-cycle cost target much lower than what is possible in systems available today.
The funding opportunity is open to a range of storage technology choices, including thermal, mechanical, electrochemical, chemical, and others. Driving the challenge are an aggressive set of cost targets, siting, power output, and duty cycle requirements.
