The US Department of Energy (DOE) issued a $16-million lab call (DE-LC-0000027) for proposals to strengthen domestic capabilities in solid-state and flow battery manufacturing. The lab call requires collaboration between DOE National Laboratories and industry partners to accelerate the path from innovation to battery manufacturing scale-up and commercialization.

Solid-state lithium batteries provide an energy-dense and safer alternative to lithium-ion batteries currently used for electric vehicles (EV) and other portable devices. Solid-state batteries can increase the EV driving range per charge.

Flow batteries are particularly well-suited for evolving grid and onsite electricity needs, increasing flexibility for variable renewable power sources.

The Lab Call contains two topic areas:

Topic 1: Developing Innovative Solid-State Battery Manufacturing Capabilities. This topic seeks proposals that address key barriers for domestic, largescale solid-state battery production. DOE is focused on the following research, development, and demonstrations (RD&D) manufacturing areas:

• Translating fundamental solid-state electrolyte R&D into large format/high-volume manufacturing RD&D.

• Enhancing precision processing and fabrication of solid-state batteries in large format cells.

• Verification and validation (V&V) of solid-state battery scalability.

Topic 1 includes a cost share of 20% and $4 million in DOE funding per project.

Topic 2: Developing Innovative Flow Battery Manufacturing Capabilities. This topic seeks proposals that work to solve technical and manufacturing challenges for US flow battery production, including the optimization of flow batteries across commercial, industrial, and utility applications. DOE is focused on the following RD&D manufacturing areas:

• Manufacturing for new (or enhanced) cell/reactor architecture and configuration.

• Developing manufacturing/process standards.

Topic 2 includes a cost share of 50% and between $2-4 million in DOE funding per project.

This lab call is divided into two phases. Applicants must submit a letter of intent as part of the pre-application. In phase 1, US national laboratories must identify lab resources, facilities, and capabilities that will be leveraged. In phase 2, national labs will develop full proposals with domestic industry partner(s) and are required to pursue Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) with partners. After phase 1, DOE will publicize the lab findings to foster impactful partnerships between labs and industry for phase 2.

This lab call is funded through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO). Projects funded through this lab call will support DOE’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge and the Long Duration Storage Shot. This lab call will also advance the mission of the Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries (FCAB), a federal agency working group committed to ensuring a domestic supply of lithium batteries.