NY Governor awards $16.6M to five long-duration energy storage projects, including hydrogen

Governor of New York Katy Hochul has announced $16.6 million in awards for five long-duration energy storage projects as well as an additional $17 million in competitive funding available for projects that advance the development and demonstration of scalable long-duration energy storage technologies, including hydrogen.

The selected projects will support the current Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goal to install 3,000 MW of energy storage by 2030 while facilitating further development to 6,000 MW.

Governor Hochul made the announcement last week at the 2022 Advanced Energy Conference in New York City.

The awards and new funding are being made available through the Renewable Optimization and Energy Storage Innovation Program administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

The aim of the funding is to advance renewable energy integration and reduce harmful emissions from reliance on fossil fuels.

Three out of five projects that were awarded $16.6 million in total are related to hydrogen production and energy storage to help reduce emissions and develop scalable, more efficient manufacturing processes.

The remaining two projects include the development of two stand-alone energy storage systems and performing field demonstrations of a six-hour zinc hybrid cathode energy storage system and developing a 3D concrete printed marine pumped hydroelectric storage system that integrates directly with offshore wind development.

The additional $17 million in competitive funding will be awarded to projects that advance, develop or field-test hydrogen, electric, chemical, mechanical or thermal-electric storage technologies that will address cost, performance, siting and renewable integration challenges, such as grid congestion, hosting capacity constraints and lithium-ion siting in New York City.

Submissions must only include innovative, long-duration energy storage technologies that are yet to be commercialized. Proposals will be accepted through 17 October 2022.

Funding for long-duration storage technologies, including hydrogen-focused projects, is said to support the State’s overall decarbonization strategy and activities to explore the role of hydrogen in reducing emissions and further integrating renewable resources.