Long-Duration Energy Storage Pilot Program Concept Paper Notifications – CleanTechnica

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Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) responded to Concept Papers submitted for the Long-Duration Energy Storage Pilot Program. This funding will focus on non-lithium technologies, long-duration (10+ hour discharge) systems, and stationary storage applications.

In September 2024, DOE announced a $100 million funding opportunity to move energy storage technologies closer to commercial viability and utility-scale deployment, ultimately propelling the nation toward a carbon free clean energy economy.

For the first stage of this process, OCED required Concept Paper submittals and reviewed 141 submissions, of which 41 were encouraged to submit a Full Application. Applicants proposed projects in 38 states and 7 tribal nations and indicated interest in pursuing a diverse range of transformative pilot solutions. In these Concept Papers, applicants requested more than $1.5 billion in federal funding—roughly 15 times the size of DOE’s $100 million solicitation.

OCED issued written notifications encouraging or discouraging applicants from submitting Full Applications. Notifications followed an assessment of each Concept Paper based on evaluation criteria that included technical approach, replicability, project plan, project team, and community benefits. The Concept Paper process allows OCED to provide feedback to potential applicants to ensure they are producing the best applications possible and to better understand the types of final applications the Department will receive.

These encourage/discourage notifications do not preclude any entity that submitted an eligible Concept Paper from submitting a Full Application. The final application deadline is March 14, 2025, at 5 p.m., ET. DOE expects to select projects for award negotiations by Q3 2025. For more information regarding the Long-Duration Energy Storage Pilot Program Concept Paper notifications, please visit OCED’s Long-Duration Energy Storage Pilot Program Notifications webpage here.

Due to the high volume of Concept Papers, we invite experts with skills and experiences related to long-duration energy storage as well as community benefits to sign up to participate as independent merit reviewers. Register on the OCED eXCHANGE.