A US government pledge of US$2.9 billion support for the country’s battery manufacturing and recycling value chain is more like a band-aid than the “major surgery” required to fix the problem. 

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has provided dates and a partial breakdown of grants totalling US$2.9 billion to boost the production of batteries for the electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage markets, as promised by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.

Four flow battery manufacturing research and development (R&D) projects will each receive a share of US$17.9 million funding from the US Department of Energy (DoE).

Users of US solar price comparison site EnergySage are increasingly drawn towards battery storage through concerns around having enough power in emergency situations, with 70% of users now requesting storage with their solar quotes. 

Eos Energy Enterprises has a total order backlog for its zinc battery-based energy storage of 389MWh, worth nearly US$100 million, but expects to only be able to recognise US$5 million in revenues for 2021. 

The cost of long-duration, grid-scale energy storage should be reduced 90% within this decade in order to accommodate the “hundreds of gigawatts of clean energy” needed, US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said yesterday.

US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm spoke of the urgent need to create an advanced battery manufacturing value chain at a roundtable event with representatives of industry. Here are some of the key points and takeaways.

A massive “green hydrogen hub” adjacent to a coal power plant in Utah could get over half a billion dollars in US government loans to support its development.

A US$75 million national research and development (R&D) facility for energy storage is expected to be up and running by 2025, the US Department of Energy said yesterday.

Long duration energy storage is “essential” to help accelerate renewable deployment, according to the US Department of Energy’s Dr Imre Gyuk, who moderates this panel discussion with Matt Harper from flow battery provider Invinity Energy Systems and Russ Weed from gravity energy storage company ARES.