Storage

DOE is doling out $63M to commercialize these four energy technologies

DOE is doling out $63M to commercialize these four energy technologies
(Photo by 金 运 on Unsplash)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $63.5 million for four “transformative” technologies through the Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) program.

DOE said the four projects have demonstrated a viable path to market and represent technologies focused on aerogels for energy-efficient insulated glass units, thermal batteries to supply combined heat and power from renewable electricity, energy-dense solid state batteries, and cement decarbonization.

“America is an innovation superpower, and President Biden is helping to scale up the next generation of clean energy solutions that will advance the nation even further toward our net-zero goals,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. “By catalyzing the commercialization of promising technologies, we are empowering the private sector to go all in to boost American manufacturing, strengthen national security and ensure our competitive edge.” 

The SCALEUP program provides new funding to previous ARPA-E awardees that have de-risked their technology and established a viable route to commercial deployment, the DOE said.

The four projects selected as part of the latest SCALEUP program are: 

  • AeroShield Materials (Waltham, MA) will develop a pilot manufacturing facility for aerogels for high-efficiency insulated glass units that will enable residential and commercial buildings to become more energy efficient, meeting current and future ENERGY STAR targets for windows. (Award amount: $14,500,000) 
  • Antora Energy (Sunnyvale, CA) will scale up production of its thermal battery technology, which turns renewable energy into on-demand heat and power for industrial facilities. (Award amount: $14,500,000) 
  • Ion Storage Systems (Beltsville, MD) will support domestic manufacturing of next generation solid-state lithium-metal batteries and aim to accelerate commercialization of the technology into the electric vehicle market. (Award amount: $20,000,000) 
  • Queens Carbon (Pine Brook, NJ) will develop an on-site pilot facility capable of producing carbon-neutral supplemental cementitious materials using industry standard raw materials to support decarbonized cement production. (Award amount: $14,500,000)

This is the third cohort of projects selected under the SCALEUP program, and full project descriptions for the technologies are available on the ARPA-E website. 
 
One of the project teams from the initial SCALEUP — Natron Energy, a global provider of sodium-ion battery technology — recently began commercial-scale operations at its manufacturing facility in Holland, Michigan. 

Sila — a next-generation battery materials company also funded under SCALEUP — was selected to received up to $100 million in funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to support the build-out of a facility in Moses Lake, Washington.

In 2021, ARPA-E issued the second SCALEUP program, which went on to support work in hybrid electric aircraft; high-power density magnetic components; U.S.-manufactured electric vehicle charging equipment; wood products that are stronger, lighter and less expensive than structural steel; rare earth-free permanent magnets; floating offshore wind; and geomechanical energy storage.