Will McNamara, an Energy Storage Policy Analyst Sandia National Laboratories Energy Storage program, delivered a presentation at the 2024 TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo on June 18, 2024, in Washington, DC. The focus of Will’s presentation titled “Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES): Mapping the Pathway to Commercialization” was included in the Energy Storage: LDES Policy, Valuation, and Use Cases symposium facilitated by Sandia’s Dr. Erik Spoerke and Dr. Imre Gyuk of the DOE Office of Electricity.

The presentation highlighted the work that Will leads, focusing on the wide range of challenges facing LDES technologies and addressing these challenges with specific, actionable recommendations to create a pathway toward commercialization for these technologies over the next decade. This is extremely important as decarbonization goals being adopted across the US will not be achievable without large increases in the amount of LDES that is deployed.

This symposium at TechConnect has been running for more than 10 years and has offered a unique venue to connect technology innovators, developers, funding sources, and government. The connections that stem from this meeting offer new opportunities for collaboration and growth, particularly around emerging fields, such as long-duration energy storage.

The 2024 TechConnect World Innovation event includes the annual SBIR/STTR Innovation Conference, AI TechConnect, and the TechConnect Technical Program – more than 35 world-class technical symposium, and the Nanotech Conference Series – the world’s largest and longest running nanotechnology event.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Technology Transitions, and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.

Dr. Erik Spoerke, a former Materials Lead in the Sandia Energy Storage program and now Senior Analytics Advisor with the DOE Office of Electricity (OE),  co-chaired the “Energy Storage: Toward Larger and Longer Duration Storage Deployment” symposium at the 2024 TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo June 17-18, 2024, in Washington D.C. Along with Dr. Imre Gyuk (Chief Scientist in the U.S. DOE Office of Electricity), Dr. Spoerke hosted two days of lively presentations focused on storage technology innovation as well as policy and market factors that affect grid-scale storage deployment.

This symposium at TechConnect has been running for more than 10 years and has offered a unique venue to connect technology innovators, developers, funding sources, and government. The connections that stem from this meeting offer new opportunities for collaboration and growth, particularly around emerging fields, such as long-duration energy storage.

The 2024 TechConnect World Innovation event includes the annual SBIR/STTR Innovation Conference, AI TechConnect, and the TechConnect Technical Program – more than 35 world-class technical symposium, and the Nanotech Conference Series – the world’s largest and longest running nanotechnology event.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division.

Dr. Reed Wittman and Dr. Yuliya Preger presented in the Electrochemical Society’s regular webinar series on June 12, 2024. They presented a summary of the long-term Li-ion cycling work that the safety and reliability team has been conducting since 2017. The talk titled “Degradation of Commercial Lithium-Ion Cells Beyond 80 Percent Capacity” covered the cycling of Li-ion cells down to 80% capacity, the materials characterization done at 80% capacity, and the cycling of the remaining cells to an end of life of 40% capacity. The cycling beyond 80% capacity is notable as most studies to date stop at this value. Cycling beyond this metric in our study allows for better insight into the true useful life of different battery chemistries for applications like grid energy storage or remote/off grid applications.

With the presentation, Drs. Wittman and Preger highlighted the attendees the leading role Sandia plays in long term reliability of grid energy storage to make a more secure and reliable energy system. The webinar had a total attendance of 217 people from across the ECS membership. A recording of the presentation will be made public for people to view at their discretion.

The ECS webinar series is a well-attended event put on by the Electrochemical Society (ECS) which is the largest professional organization for electrochemistry. It has a broad audience capturing students, academics, researchers, and members of industry in its attendance. The speaking slots are invite-only, and our invitation is a recognition of the quality of work the Sandia Energy Storage team does and the presence it has in the community.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division.

Dr. Erik Spoerke, a former Materials Lead in the Sandia Energy Storage program and now Senior Analytics Advisor with the DOE Office of Electricity (OE), gave a keynote presentation, at the 14^th Annual Capture the Energy Conference and Expo sponsored by New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY BEST), held May 14-16, 2024, in Albany, NY. Dr. Spoerke’s presentation titled “Generational Electrical Energy Transformation through the DOE Office of Electricity” provided an overview of how the DOE and the OE are working to develop initiatives and drive technical innovation, technology advancement, and commercial deployment of domestic energy storage.

New York is a state leader in the advance of energy storage demonstration and deployment, and this presentation provided insights to key stakeholders into how state efforts may be connected to larger national initiatives toward energy storage deployment.

The New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium, provides resources and expertise for energy storage-related stakeholders active and growing in New York. Additionally, NY-BEST bills itself as a rapidly growing, industry-led, coalition of corporate, entrepreneurial, academic, and government partners building a vibrant, world-class advanced battery and energy storage sector in New York State.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE) is advancing electric grid resilience, reliability, and security with a new high-tech facility at the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) in Richland, Wash., where pioneering researchers can test energy storage capabilities in a realistic environment. Today, OE joined PNNL in opening the 93,000 square foot Grid Storage Launchpad (GSL), which will revolutionize clean energy innovation through advanced battery research.  

The GSL will support OE’s efforts to develop grid-scale energy storage technology by enabling testing and validation of next-generation materials and systems under realistic grid operating conditions. It will help secure our nation’s leadership role in accelerating, collaborating and educating others on the benefits of energy storage.  

“This new Grid Storage Launchpad is where we will transform the energy storage industry, which is a key to modernizing the U.S. electric grid,” said Dr. Geri Richmond, DOE’s Under Secretary for Science and Innovation. “The scientists and researchers who test everything from smaller prototype batteries to large, grid-scale battery systems will lead us forward into a new world where energy storage is safer, durable, and more affordable. When we bring the smartest minds in the industry and give them the tools to advance energy storage, we move our nation that much closer to a cleaner energy future.” 

Sandia National Laboratories Senior Scientist Stan Atcitty has been honored with the A.P. Seethapathy Rural Electrification Excellence Award by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for his leadership and innovation in the rural electrification of U.S. tribal nations.

The IEEE, one of the world’s largest technical professional organizations, established the Seethapathy Rural Electrification Award in 2008. The award recognizes exceptional power engineers who have innovated or implemented cost-effective electrification technologies for the rural sector. It is among 24 national awards of the IEEE Power and Energy Society.

Atcitty, a member of the Navajo Nation, leads the power electronics subprogram as part of the Department of Energy Office of Electricity’s Energy Storage Program. He also leads the Tribal Energy Storage Program and the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program, conducting outreach with tribal colleges and universities.

Loraine Torres-Castro is on a mission to ensure the technologies of today do not harm the climate of tomorrow. For Loraine, a future with sustainable and clean energy is possible but the possibility requires a “do no harm” mentality and inclusion of diverse perspectives, people and stories.

Loraine, Sandia’s battery safety team lead and a principal member of technical staff, has been at Sandia almost eight years. In that time, she has focused her research on the transition to renewable energy and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions using batteries. But not just any batteries — safe, reliable and ecologically responsible batteries.

Will McNamara, Energy Storage Policy Analyst at Sandia National Laboratories, delivered a presentation to the Energy Storage Working Group of the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. The presentation was focused on Sandia’s current work related to long-duration energy storage (LDES), specifically its role as the Lead Lab in the DOE-funded LDES National Consortium project, a three-year initiative that commenced in January. Will’s presentation covered the following: 1) decarbonization and the role of energy storage; 2) the need for new storage technologies, beyond four-hour lithium-ion batteries; 3) LDES technologies and applications; 4) commercialization challenges & recommendations facing LDES technologies; and 5) an introduction to the LDES National Consortium with an invitation for SEPA members to join as Teaming Partners.

SEPA is a nonprofit organization that envisions a carbon-free energy system that is safe, affordable, reliable, resilient and equitable. Its mission is to accelerate the electric power industry’s transformation to a modern energy future through education, research, standards, and collaboration. SEPA has over 1,000 members (including 700+ utilities) who continuously rely on us to make smart clean and modern energy choices. Thus, Will’s presentation to this Energy Storage Working Group within SEPA promoted the work of Sandia and the LDES National Consortium to a broad audience of significant stakeholders in the industry.

The presentation highlighted the work that Will is leading that is focuses on addressing the wide range of challenges facing LDES technologies and addressing these challenges with specific, actionable recommendations to create a pathway toward commercialization for these technologies over the next decade. Will characterized addressing these challenges as extremely important as decarbonization goals being adopted across the US will not be achievable without large increases in the amount of LDES that is deployed.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity (OE), Energy Storage Division and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Technology Transitions, and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.