In line with the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $33 million investment in nine projects across seven states. These projects aim to advance concentrating solar-thermal (CST) systems technologies for solar fuel production and long-duration energy storage. CST technologies utilize mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver, aiding in the production of carbon-free clean fuels, heat, and storage for various applications. This initiative is part of President Biden’s whole-of-government strategy to reduce harmful carbon emissions and achieve the nation’s ambitious clean energy and climate goals.
“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, DOE continues to invest in next-generation solar technologies to tackle the climate crisis and ensure American scientific innovation remains unparalleled,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “With today’s announcement, DOE is supporting projects that will harness the sun’s energy for diverse applications, from powering NASA space missions to beer and wine production.”
The DOE’s Solar Futures Study highlights the need for extensive energy storage, with significant growth in long-duration storage required to meet the administration’s clean energy and climate objectives. To expedite the development of these technologies, DOE launched the Long Duration Storage Shot™ to drastically reduce costs within the decade. Additionally, the industrial sectors, accounting for 33% of the nation’s primary energy use and 30% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, will increasingly need clean sources of heat and fuel. Breakthroughs in this area are supported by DOE’s Industrial Heat Shot™, Hydrogen Shot™, and Clean Fuels & Products Shot™.
The availability of solar fuels and clean hydrogen will help decrease reliance on fossil-fuel-based resources like feedstocks for fuels, chemicals, and other petroleum-derived materials. The projects announced today also support DOE’s efforts to kickstart a robust domestic clean hydrogen industry by advancing cost-effective hydrogen production methods.
Three selected projects will leverage solar energy to produce renewable fuels more cost-effectively than using electricity, eliminating emissions from burning natural gas. These projects include:
- Exergy Labs (Dover, DE): Developing a modular dish reactor for clean hydrogen generation with lower cost and carbon intensity, and testing prototypes in North Carolina and Arizona. (Award Amount: $3 million)
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, CO): Creating a CST-compatible reactor to produce high-value products like jet fuel from carbon monoxide and water vapor. The project includes designing a 1-megawatt pilot plant to evaluate commercial viability. (Award Amount: $3 million)
- West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV): Demonstrating direct solar-thermal integration with hydrogen production using a high-temperature solid oxide electrolyzer, with applications including space missions. (Award Amount: $5 million)
Six additional projects will advance thermal energy storage technologies, providing continuous or on-demand heat for various applications. These technologies can pair with turbines for electricity production or support industrial processes requiring heat. The selected projects include:
- Brayton Energy (Hampton, NH): De-risking a novel high-temperature particle-based thermal energy storage concept integrating storage, media transport, and heat exchange. (Award Amount: $5 million)
- Durion (White River Junction, VT): Advancing a patented thermal energy storage system storing energy as pressurized hot water, providing a low-cost solution for 1 megawatt of thermal heat for up to 12 hours. (Award Amount: $1.6 million)
- Firestone Walker Incorporated (Paso Robles, CA): Using solar thermal energy to generate steam for the brewery, eliminating 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. (Award Amount: $7.3 million)
- Premier Resource Management (Bakersfield, CA): Developing a 100-kilowatt demonstration power plant storing thermal heat underground at retired fracking sites. (Award Amount: $6 million)
- Southwest Research Institute (San Antonio, TX): Testing an advanced dual media energy storage system for utility power applications, providing 1 megawatt of thermal heat for 10 hours. (Award Amount: $1.2 million)
- University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN): Partnering with Sandia National Laboratories to develop a high-performance heat exchanger for low-cost power generation and high-temperature industrial process heat. (Award Amount: $850,000)