On January 23, 2024, Sandia staff participated in the second meeting of the P1547.4 Working Group (WG). The P1547.4 WG, chaired by Michael Ropp of Sandia National Laboratories, is revising the IEEE Guide 1547.4-2011 “Guide for Design, Operation, Integration, and Interoperability of Intentional Electric Systems Islands.” This guide supplements the IEEE Standard 1547 for interconnection and interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources. Of particular relevance to the Energy Storage (ES) program is promoting the beneficial role and function of ES in islanded power systems, e.g. microgrids. Additionally, the revised 1547.4 could include guidance on using ES assets within a microgrid to regulate frequency, while islanded from a centrally dispatched networked power system. Charlie Vartanian (contractor for Sandia) also assisted with Working Group process administration.

Learn more about P1547.4, Guide for Design, Operation, Integration, and Interoperability of Intentional Electric Power Systems Islands at https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/1547.4/11292/.

Reed Wittman and Yuliya Preger, members of the Safety & Reliability team in the Sandia Energy Storage program recently published the first part of a two-part study on the materials degradation of Li-ion batteries during long-term cycling in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society. The paper titled “Characterization of Cycle-Aged Commercial NMC and NCA Lithium-ion Cells: I. Temperature-Dependent Degradation” focuses on the impact of temperature on the materials of NMC and NCA 18650 cells cycled at different temperatures. For the whole study, the authors produced over 150 data sets, making this the largest characterization study of Li-ion batteries that have gone through systematic cycling to date in the open literature. The article also provides detailed analysis of how these batteries degrade, and how these findings can be used to improve their performance and utilization in the future. The raw data underlying this analysis is available at https://www.sandia.gov/energystoragesafety/rd-data-repository/.

Citation: R.M. Wittman, M. Dubarry, S. Ivanov, B. W. Juba, J. Roman-Kustas, A. Fresquez, J. Langendorf, R. Grant, G. Taggart, B. Chalamala, Y. Preger “Characterization of Cycle-Aged Commercial NMC and NCA Lithium-ion Cells: I. Temperature-Dependent Degradation” J. Electrochem. Soc. 170 120538,

DOI 10.1149/1945-7111/ad1450.

The National Consortium for the Advancement of Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) Technologies recently held its national launch webinar. More than 1200 people registered the webinar, during which the goals, deliverables, and timeline for the three-year, DOE-funded initiative LDES National Consortium were summarized. Led by Principal Investigator Will McNamara from Sandia National Laboratories, the LDES National Consortium presently consists of more than 150 participating organizations, representing diverse stakeholder perspectives from across the LDES ecosystem, including technology developers, manufacturers & suppliers, investors, utilities, policymakers, academia, researchers, and more. Together, the LDES National Consortium aims to identify barriers, determine potential synergies, and collaboratively develop and promote the implementation of strategies necessary to achieve the commercialization of a wide range of LDES technologies within the next decade. The LDES National Consortium continues to welcome new partners. To watch the webinar recording, learn more, and join this important initiative, visit https://ldesconsortium.sandia.gov/.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity has selected two companies to receive $19 million in awards to demonstrate long-duration energy storage (LDES) projects in remote communities and military housing. The companies will receive funding to show how energy storage can lower electricity bills and increase power reliability in Vermont and Kansas. This marks the first projects to be funded under the new energy storage demonstration programs enacted as part of the 2020 Energy Act.