In December 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) responded to Concept Papers submitted for the Long-Duration Energy Storage Pilot Program. This funding will focus on non-lithium technologies, long-duration (10+ hour discharge) systems, and stationary storage applications.
In September 2024, DOE announced up to $100 million in funding to support pilot-scale energy storage demonstration projects. For the first stage of this process, OCED required Concept Paper submittals and reviewed 141 submissions, of which 41 were encouraged to submit a Full Application. Applicants proposed projects in 38 states and 7 tribal nations and indicated interest in pursuing a diverse range of transformative pilot solutions. In these Concept Papers, applicants requested more than $1.5 billion in federal funding—roughly 15 times the size of DOE’s $100 million solicitation.
OCED issued notifications encouraging or discouraging applicants from submitting Full Applications. Notifications followed an assessment of each Concept Paper based on evaluation criteria that included technical approach, replicability, project plan, project team, and community benefits. The Concept Paper process allows OCED to provide feedback to potential applicants to ensure they are producing the best applications possible and to better understand the types of final applications the Department will receive.
DOE takes seriously the confidentiality of all applicants and will treat applications and related information as confidential to the fullest extent possible, provided that applicants have not opted to publicly release the information. These encourage/discourage notifications do not preclude any entity that submitted an eligible Concept Paper from submitting a Full Application. The final application deadline is March 14, 2025, at 5 p.m., ET. DOE expects to select projects for award negotiations by Q3 2025.
For more information regarding the Long-Duration Energy Storage Demonstrations Program, please visit OCED’s Long-Duration Energy Storage Demonstrations Program webpage. Responses to frequently asked questions about the encourage/discourage notifications are below:
The Department of Energy (DOE) reviewed 141 Concept Papers for the LDES Pilot Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), number DE-FOA-0003399.
Concept Papers allow DOE to provide feedback to potential applicants to facilitate the strongest Full Applications and to better understand and prepare for the types of Full Applications DOE might receive. The encourage or discourage notifications also serve to caution discouraged applicants from expending considerable resources to develop a Full Application on a concept that is unlikely to meet the goals of the NOFO.
Multiple reviewers independently scored Concept Papers based on evaluation criteria listed in the NOFO that includes topics such as qualifications, experience, capabilities, and technology maturation. A DOE panel then reviewed scores and made final decisions on which Concept Papers to encourage or discourage.
OCED intends to fund 5-15 projects with an award size of at least $5 million and no more than $20 million in federal funds. Consistent with the eligibility requirements discussed in Step 1 of the NOFO, the following entities are eligible to apply as recipients: (1) State energy office, (2) Indian Tribe, (3) Tribal organization, (4) Institute of higher education, (5) Electric utility (including electric cooperatives, Tribal utilities, municipally owned electric utilities, and investor-owned utilities), and (6) Private energy storage companies.
Concept Papers were discouraged for many reasons, but one of the most common reasons was that the proposal included technologies outside of the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) specified for this NOFO, either because the technologies described were unready for pilot-scale demonstration or had already been proven.
DOE takes seriously the confidentiality of all applicants and will treat applications and related information as confidential to the fullest extent possible, provided that applicants have not opted to publicly release the information. However, applicants who submitted Concept Papers are free to publicize their Concept Papers and/or DOE’s response. To receive future news alerts from OCED, including updates on the Long-Duration Energy Storage Pilot Program project selections, sign up here.
Yes, applicants may share their Concept Papers and DOE’s response.
Yes, an encourage/discourage notification does not preclude any entity that submitted an eligible Concept Paper from submitting a Full Application.
No, an encourage notification simply means that the proposal is on the right path towards submitting a Full Application. DOE expects significant competition among applicants, even if only encouraged applicants submit Full Applications.
No, through discouraging the submission of a Full Application, DOE intends to convey its lack of interest in the proposed project for funding under this NOFO to save applicants the considerable time and expense of preparing a Full Application that is unlikely to be selected for award negotiations.
Applying to multiple NOFOs does not itself render a project ineligible to apply under this NOFO. As stated in Step 2, page 39 of the NOFO: “If the applicant or project team member has other active awards of Federal funds, the applicant must determine whether the activities of those awards potentially overlap with the activities set forth in its application to this NOFO. If there is a potential overlap, the applicant must notify DOE in writing of the potential overlap and state how it will ensure any project funds (i.e., recipient cost share and Federal funds) will not be used for identical cost items under multiple awards.”
The success of the projects funded under this NOFO depend on engagement with and support from host communities, relevant labor partners and workforces, and other impacted groups. Applicants are required to include a Community Benefits Plan as well as the resources that are allocated to implementing the Community Benefits Plan. Additional information is available through our “Community Benefits Plan Guidance” under “APPLICATION FORMS AND TEMPLATES” in OCED eXCHANGE.
Full Applications are due on March 14, 2025, at 5 p.m., ET.
Additional information about this NOFO is available on OCED eXCHANGE.