Department of Energy Allocates $350M for Long-Duration Energy Storage Pilot Projects

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations authorized $350 million in federal matching grants on Saturday to deploy 12 commercial-scale Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) installations across the nation.

Technology Selection and Storage Durations

The funded projects focus on non-lithium electrochemical and mechanical storage systems capable of continuously discharging electrical power for 10 to 100 hours. Selected technologies include iron-flow batteries, liquid metal storage, closed-loop thermal brick systems, and subterranean compressed carbon dioxide storage.

The installations will be deployed in California, Texas, New York, Minnesota, and Arizona, providing regional grid operators with multi-day energy reserves to support clean electricity reliability during extended periods of low wind and solar generation.

Grid Reliability and Fossil Plant Conversion

Several pilot projects will be co-located at retiring coal and natural gas generation stations, utilizing existing high-voltage substation switchyards and transmission interconnections while preserving local utility employment.

Energy industry analysts noted that scaling multi-day storage is critical to achieving a 100% clean power grid without relying on fossil-fuel peaker plants during extreme heatwaves and winter polar vortex events.

Construction Milestones

Detailed engineering design work will commence in autumn 2026, with the first pilot facilities connecting to regional transmission networks by late 2027.