The US Department of Energy (DoE) has issued a notice of intent to projects and developers of non-lithium batteries.

In the notice, the agency offered to sponsor pilot-scale energy storage demonstration projects that focus on “non-lithium technology” for long-term energy storage, promising to invest $100 million in such initiatives. The financing will be supplied by the agency’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED).

The Department of Energy stated that it plans to sponsor 3-15 projects with subsidies ranging from $5 million to $20 million each, which must be matched with private investment.

The funding will “support technology maturation activities including design for manufacturability, pilot system development, fabrication and installation, operational testing and validation, and commercial scale system design and supply chain growth,” the DoE said in a statement, adding that, “Short duration energy storage is already supporting the grid, but continued deployment of variable renewable energy may push the requirement beyond the energy storage systems that exist today.”

Battery energy storage systems (BESS), which use lithium-based chemistries or alternatives such as sodium-ion, enable developers and utilities to store excess renewable energy generated by sources such as solar and wind for usage during off-peak hours.

The Department of Energy forecasts that America will require an extra 700-900 GW of energy storage capacity to meet its 2050 net zero ambition.