CleanTech Strategies Selected for U.S. Department of Energy Award to Advance Flow Battery Innovations for Long Duration Energy Storage
CleanTech Strategies (CTS), a clean technology expert firm, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE) as one of three recipients of an award to advance energy storage innovations. The award will support the development of flow battery technologies for long duration energy storage (LDES), contributing to the goal of providing clean, affordable electricity to Americans.
Through a collaborative partnership with the Flow Battery Industry Group (FBIG), a program of Battery Council International (BCI), CTS will lead the project, engaging with U.S. research institutions to plan, manage, and report on applied research and development (R&D). The project aims to accelerate the maturation of flow battery technologies, making them cost-effective and reliable solutions for LDES.
The project team brings together a wealth of knowledge and experience from experts at CTS, BCI, and each of the participating FBIG companies, including Stryten Energy, CMBlu Energy, Invinity Energy Systems, BioZen Batteries, ENTEK International, Ramboll, and Polypore International. FBIG, established in 2023 as part of BCI, serves as an industry-leading platform for collaboration and advancement in the flow battery sector.
The applied R&D areas of the project encompass key technical and non-technical aspects of flow battery development, including system and component lifetime testing, supply chain development, membrane testing and regulation, power electronics standards, safety standards, utility and system operator modeling, technoeconomic analysis of systems, and private financing in conjunction with tax and deployment incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act.
These focus areas align with the Long Duration Storage Shot released by the DOE in mid-2023. From the project’s inception, CTS, FBIG member companies, and BCI have emphasized the importance of building a durable research partnership. They recognize that the DOE OE funding, matched with in-kind cost share from FBIG members, represents only the beginning of the collaborative work to be done.
The project will leverage existing research from industry, DOE, and U.S. national labs to accelerate the collaborative applied R&D efforts, ultimately contributing to the maturation of flow batteries as cost-effective and reliable LDES solutions.
CTS, headquartered in California, is a subject matter expert firm specializing in energy storage, power electronics, microgrids, renewables, and advanced materials. The company, established in 2018, has collaborated closely with flow battery product developers and other industry stakeholders to actively engage in FBIG, valuing the partnership with BCI as a leading and diversifying energy storage industry organization.
CTS advocates a comprehensive approach to energy storage, recognizing the need for differentiated energy storage technologies to meet the varying requirements of electric grids and microgrids. The company’s President is a proponent of segmenting the stationary energy storage market into short, medium, long, and seasonal needs, tailoring energy storage solutions to the specific needs of each segment.
