U.S. Department of Energy to invest over $100 million to prepare the grid for a net-zero economy

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) today announced its intent to issue multiple funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) totaling over $100 million for field demonstrations and other research to support better planning and operation of the electric grid.

The United States’ transition to a decarbonized, clean energy future requires transformations across the electricity system, including at the “grid edge”, where buildings, industry, transportation, renewables, storage, and the electric grid come together. This investment will fund field demonstrations and other research to support better planning and operation of distributed energy systems. It will also help optimize systems with grid-connected buildings and vehicles powered by clean, distributed energy generation and show these advanced technologies are reliable, secure, and ready to support a clean energy economy for all Americans. These efforts are aligned with Earthshots such as the Affordable Home Energy Shot, the Clean Fuels and Products Shot, and the Industrial Heat Shot and will help reduce grid capacity barriers to clean energy deployment.

“To deploy clean energy faster across the U.S., we need to bring more local, renewable sources onto the grid,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Jeff Marootian. “Better built environments will make clean energy more affordable and accessible, and create a more secure, resilient energy future for the American people.”

The U.S. electric grid is moving from a system where power flows only from big generators to end users, to one that is bidirectional, enabling a two-way flow of electricity from end user to the grid and back. Technologies such as rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and storage can increase grid resiliency but also add complexity and new challenges to the system. The projects selected under these FOAs will strengthen the integration of these resources, support grid planning and operation, and enable the widespread and equitable deployment of these technologies.

The anticipated FOAs include:

Connected Communities 2.0, which will leverage foundational approaches from existing Connected Communities projects to advance solutions for the grid edge—where electricity distribution transitions between the utility and the customer—at community scale, integrating buildings and transportation, community renewables, and storage technologies.

Solar Technologies’ Rapid Integration and Validation for Energy Systems (STRIVES), to develop and demonstrate technology and market tools for better integration of distributed energy resources including solar, wind, and energy storage.

SuperTruck Charge, which will address the challenges associated with vehicles-to-grid integration and large-scale charging installations for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

The offices leading the FOAs are the Building Technologies Office, Solar Energy Technologies Office, and Vehicle Technologies Office, in collaboration with the Geothermal Technologies Office, Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office, Wind Energy Technologies Office, in DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy EERE and DOE’s Office of Electricity.