The objective of this FOA is to enable long-duration energy storage technologies through durable research partnerships. This FOA will enable collaborative partnerships of two or more entities with a focus on one or several energy storage technologies. The selected technology or technologies must have a pathway to cost-effective, grid-scale, long-duration energy storage. Each partnership will be led by a central organization or a single member who will act as the primary recipient, and at least one other participating entity who will receive funds by applying with the lead as a project partner (more than two entities are encouraged). Each participating entity must be based in the United States. The partnership developed in response to this announcement will collaborate with two primary objectives:

1. Partnership development: Entities will organize by coordinating with each other, engaging in meetings and discussions, and setting up durable channels of communication to effectively collaborate through this award period and afterwards. Such means of collaboration may include email, periodic meetings (virtual or in-person), collaborative online platforms, site visits, conference participation, polls, newsletters, websites, or knowledge sharing beyond the scope of the pre-competitive R&D project. Entities are encouraged to think creatively to develop lasting partnerships.
2. Pre-competitive R&D: Partnerships will receive funding to perform “precompetitive” R&D projects at a research institution, such as (but not limited to) a DOE National Laboratory. “Pre-competitive R&D” includes activities that are of interest to multiple or all entities in the partnership. Such activities should propel an entire technology industry forward, and the outputs of this work should provide value to all participating members of the partnership. Further discussion of pre-competitive R&D is provided in the SI 2030 Technology Strategy Assessments. These assessments also provide themes and examples of activities consistent with DOE strategy. Applicants are strongly encouraged to leverage the Technology Strategy Assessments in identifying and proposing pre-competitive R&D.

Each award will be for $5 million and may be split at the applicant’s discretion between the two above objectives.

Each partnership will be composed of at minimum two entities. All entities may come from the same or different technology industry, but all must have a common goal or barrier that can be solved with pre-competitive R&D. Each partnership will be expected to demonstrate consistent communication and organization through which to collaborate and enable cost, performance, or safety improvement for a technology or technologies of focus. Partnerships are encouraged to show durability beyond project end date.

Each partnership must also connect with a participating research institution, such as a DOE National Laboratory, to perform the pre-competitive R&D. The research institution may or may not be considered a “member” of the partnership, but the R&D must have impact for all members of the project. Partnerships should develop an IP sharing plan to describe if IP is intended to be created as part of this project, and if so, how it can be shared and beneficial to all participating project members. An IP Management Plan (IPMP) must be submitted within 30 days of selection.

Research projects are strongly encouraged to align with the findings from SI 2030 as outlined in the Long Duration Storage Shot Technology Strategy Assessments, released on July 19, 2023 and available at https://www.energy.gov/oe/storage-innovations-2030. Projects must describe how they enable low-cost, high performance long-duration energy storage and alignment with the Long Duration Storage Shot (LDSS). Partnerships may be based around one of the following technologies, a different technology with a pathway to meet the goals of the LDSS, or multiple long duration storage technologies that can be benefited by a single precompetitive crosscutting project. DOE has no preference between single-technology or multi-technology submissions.

• Lithium-ion batteries
• Flow batteries
• Lead-acid batteries
• Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH)
• Compressed-Air Energy Storage (CAES)
• Zinc Batteries
• Sodium Batteries
• Thermal Energy Storage

To directly support the goals of OE and the Long Duration Storage Shot, eligible R&D opportunities are limited to those that support technologies capable of bidirectional, electricity in/electricity out energy storage.