The U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday that it will award $63.5 million to four companies developing “transformative” energy technologies that “have demonstrated a viable path to market,” including advances in energy storage.
The funding will be provided through DOE’s Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential, or SCALEUP, program to previous Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy awardees “that have successfully de-risked their technology,” according to the agency.
“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,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.
The largest award of $20 million will go to Ion Storage Systems in Beltsville, Maryland, for its manufacturing of solid-state lithium-metal batteries and to help accelerate commercialization of the technology into the electric vehicle market.
"We are proud to be working hand-in-hand toward gigawatt-hour production and delivery of a market-leading EV battery solution,” Gregory Hitz, Ion co-founder and chief technical officer, said in a statement.
AeroShield Materials, in Waltham, Massachusetts, will receive $14.5 million to 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,” DOE said.
Antora Energy, based in Sunnyvale, California, will use its award of $14.5 million to scale production of its thermal battery technology, “which turns low-cost renewable energy into reliable, on-demand heat and power for industrial facilities,” DOE said.
And Queens Carbon, in Pine Brook, New Jersey, will receive $14.5 million to develop an on-site pilot facility “capable of producing carbon-neutral supplemental cementitious materials using industry standard raw materials to support decarbonized cement production,” the agency said.
The awards announced Tuesday represent the third tranche of projects selected under the SCALEUP program. Full descriptions of the most recent awards can be found here.
