The Department of Energy announced funding from the Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) totaling $43 million for 19 new projects to develop breakthrough energy storage technologies and support promising small businesses. The projects, which are supported through two new ARPA-E programs—Advanced Management and Protection of Energy Storage Devices (AMPED) and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)—will focus on innovations in battery management and storage to advance electric vehicle technologies, help improve the efficiency and reliability of the electrical grid, and provide important energy security benefits to the United States’ armed forces.

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu says, “This latest round of ARPA-E projects seek to address the remaining challenges in energy storage technologies, which could revolutionize the way Americans store and use energy in electric vehicles, the grid and beyond, while also potentially improving the access to energy for the U.S. military at forward operating bases in remote areas. These cutting-edge projects could transform our energy infrastructure, dramatically reduce our reliance on imported oil and increase American energy security.”

AMPED is focused on maximizing the potential of existing battery chemistries. Twelve research projects are receiving $30 million in funding under the AMPED program, which aims to develop advanced sensing and control technologies to improve and provide new innovations in safety, performance, and lifetime for grid-scale and vehicle batteries that will help reduce costs and improve the performance of next generation storage technologies that could be applied in both plug-in electric and hybrid-electric vehicles.

ARPA-E also announced a total of $13 million for seven projects for small businesses to pursue energy storage developments for stationary power and electric vehicles. These projects will develop innovative battery chemistries and battery designs.

For more information on the program, visit www.arpa-e.energy.gov.

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