J.W. McNamara
Sandia National Laboratories,
United States
Keywords: long-duration energy storage, LDES
Summary:
Despite a growing realization of the need for LDES technologies that will continue to accelerate over the next decade, multiple challenges continue to impede a smooth pathway toward widespread commercialization and deployment. These challenges include a persistent gap of policy levers at the federal and state level defining where and how LDES technologies can be utilized to support the electric grid; valuation metrics that define how this support should be compensated; supply chain deficiencies that impede technology development; and a pervasive risk aversion among investors whose funding contributions are essential to enable LDES technologies to flourish. The National Consortium for the Advancement of LDES Technologies (referred to as, ‘LDES National Consortium’) was formed by Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) and its five National Laboratory partners (Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Idaho National Laboratory (INL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in October 2023. The LDES National Consortium is funded by the Department of Energy--Office of Technology Transitions and Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. The LDES National Consortium's mission is focused on developing commercialization strategies for a full range of diverse LDES technologies. Collectively, these strategies will enable diverse suppliers to introduce a greater number of LDES technologies, products, and applications to a wider range of markets, faster than has previously been possible. The LDES National Consortium will accomplish this by assembling key energy stakeholder organizations that represent technology developers, manufacturers and suppliers; financial investors; market planners; end-use customers; regulators and state governmental offices; universities and academic researchers; and community-based organizations to collaboratively identify current data availability, gaps, and needs; system infrastructure requirements, and planning objectives specific to LDES technologies. Moreover, the LDES National Consortium is focused on creating and maintaining a centralized, independent forum through which stakeholders across the LDES ecosystem can work together to identify barriers presently facing LDES technologies and collaboratively develop and implement recommended strategies necessary to achieve the commercialization of a diverse range of LDES technologies within the next decade. One of the most significant outcomes of the LDES National Consortium will be a set of recommendations to frame multiple pathways to achieve LDES commercialization over the next decade that address topics such as products, projects, economics, financing, and policies, including equity recommendations to ensure that disadvantaged communities also have increased access to the benefits that LDES technologies provide. In this oral presentation, progress of the LDES National Consortium's activities and progress toward developing actionable recommendations to enable a pathway toward commercialization for diverse LDES technologies will be summarized for the audience.