Lithium-ion is undoubtedly the battery du jour of the modern world, but the California Energy Commission is looking at alternatives to the chemistry for tomorrow’s energy storage system applications.
The organisation is set to release $11 million in grant funding to support the development of non lithium-ion technologies to meet the US state’s clean energy goals.
To date, the Golden State has around 300 operating energy storage projects amounting to 7.2GW of capacity.
The purpose of this solicitation, which closes on 4 February, is to fund the development and field testing of emerging energy storage technologies for the purpose of raising the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) and accelerating market penetration.
The solicitation read: “The timing is right for supporting emerging technologies that can out-perform existing energy storage technologies because a substantial amount of the energy storage in California was installed in the last few years and will need to be upgraded or replaced in the next 7-15 years.
“Additionally, as the State makes changes to the electric grid to accommodate higher levels of renewables and a carbon free future by 2045, the need for cost effective and high performing energy storage solutions are expected to increase and be diversified.
“This means that developing new and emerging technologies now will enable them to be positioned for substantial upcoming market opportunities.”
