Grid Storage Launchpad Celebrates First Year of Operations

One year ago, the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Grid Storage Launchpad (GSL) opened its doors to accelerate the development of energy storage technology.

Now, the facility is brimming with energy storage research, from synthesizing new molecules to testing advanced prototypes in real-world conditions. 

“Batteries are so ubiquitous to everything we do. They support our everyday lives, and they’ll be needed to support the grid as electricity demand rises,” said Vince Sprenkle, director of GSL, which operates at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington. “Our accomplishments in the last year show PNNL’s commitment to DOE’s mission to bring reliable, affordable energy to the nation.”

Funded by DOE’s Office of Electricity, with additional support from the state of Washington, Battelle, and PNNL, GSL’s mission is to accelerate and validate new battery technology development, collaborate with industry, and educate the next generation of energy storage specialists.

“GSL is home to world-class technical expertise and specialized instrumentation that will enable PNNL and our collaborators to advance new energy storage technologies for an energy-abundant electric grid that is reliable, secure, and affordable,” said Steven Ashby, PNNL’s Laboratory Director. “As we celebrate the first anniversary of this facility, I am even more excited about what the future will bring.” 

New laboratories, new capabilities

Inside GSL’s sparkling new laboratories are powerful new instruments. 

In the Material Innovation through Robotics & AI Laboratory (MIRAL) lab, AI and robotics come together to help researchers synthesize, characterize, and test potential battery chemistries. Driven by machine learning algorithms and advanced software controls, the MIRAL robotic arm and accompanying system can perform hundreds of experiments per day that might take human researchers weeks.

Researchers also recently developed an easier way to test materials for redox flow batteries, a technology that harnesses liquid rather than solid electrolytes to store energy. To speed up investigations for flow battery materials, PNNL researchers designed a miniature flow battery, about the size of a playing card, that requires only milligrams of material to provide reliable results.

Exploring old and new battery chemistry 

Lithium, sodium, lead-acid. With support from other DOE offices, these are just a few of the many materials PNNL researchers study for the next generation of batteries. 

Lithium batteries are some of the most widely used today, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. PNNL researchers are exploring ways to manufacture safer lithium batteries and commercializing technology to help the industry grow.

Sodium is very similar to lithium, but much more abundant in Earth’s crust, making it a promising element for strengthening domestic production of battery material. PNNL is exploring sodium-ion batteries with the PNNL-led Sodium-ion Alliance for Grid Energy Storage and, along with six other national laboratories, the Low-cost Earth-abundant Na-ion Storage.

“With sodium, the technology has good material security and cost competitiveness to meet the grid’s energy storage needs for extreme long life and reliability,” said Xiaolin Li, a materials scientist at PNNL who works on battery development and reliability. “We’ve moved from conceptional viability assessments in a lab to demonstration and validation in large working cells, which is an important step in development. GSL is in a great position because we can offer great battery development and validation capabilities for companies who are interested in demonstrating or commercializing sodium-ion batteries.”

Meanwhile, researchers are working with multiple lead-acid battery companies to optimize a 150-year-old technology to support the grid. Lead-acid batteries are traditionally found in vehicles (they provide the energy to start a car) and things that need low but steady power, like electric wheelchairs or boat motors. They’re widely manufactured and easily recycled, which could make them a perfect candidate for grid-supporting energy storage systems. 

Work with utilities 

Not all of GSL’s impact happens in the building itself. In the last year, PNNL experts have been working with utilities across the country to help them navigate the intricacies of deploying energy storage. 

In one project called Energy Storage for Rural Resilience, PNNL experts partnered with several small utilities in rural areas to help strengthen their power grids with energy storage. The team addresses a variety of challenges that rural utilities face, including extreme heat or cold, wildfires, or unreliable power. 

“We’ve done the theoretical part of this work for years, helping utilities answer questions like ‘how big should an energy storage system be? How do we mitigate the risks?’” said Diane Baldwin, an energy storage expert at PNNL who leads the rural resilience project. “Having a physical space at GSL is really helping us to focus more on late-stage project development. We can test systems at GSL and help utilities understand how they’ll work in real conditions.”

Last year, PNNL researchers teamed up with multiple organizations to help the rural Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota install a 277-kilowatt-hour energy storage system. PNNL, along with Sandia National Laboratories, provided expertise in system design, safety protocols, and integration.

Looking ahead

Soon, GSL will open applications for battery companies to test their systems in the facility under real-world performance specifications. The indoor facilities can test systems as powerful as 100 kilowatts or 400 kilowatt-hours, the minimum power needed to connect to the electric grid, Sprenkle said.

“At GSL, we can test inside in a controlled environment. We can isolate different factors, test under different energy demand scenarios so we can tell our clients ‘Here's how the system performs in ideal or less than ideal conditions,’” Sprenkle said. 

These tests will be vital for understanding the energy infrastructure required to support the burgeoning AI industry, Sprenkle continued. Because data centers sometimes require a huge amount of energy in a very short period of time, energy storage might be one way to support those new energy needs.

“We are seeing a dramatic shift in the energy sector due to things like the scaling of data centers. It is changing the dynamic of where we need energy storage,” Sprenkle said.