Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Energy is launching a new initiative to speed development and deployment of advanced battery technologies, DOE Assistant Secretary Audrey Robertson told Utility Dive.
- The Battery Manufacturing Accelerator, or BattMan, aims to strengthen domestic supply chains for battery materials and components, reduce manufacturing costs and shorten commercialization timelines, the department said on Wednesday.
- U.S. demand for batteries across transportation and grid management applications is expected to increase from 179 GWh in 2025 to 707 GWh in 2035, according to a June analysis from Bloomberg NEF that DOE cited in a white paper published last month.
Dive Insight:
A secure, scaled-up domestic battery supply chain is critical for U.S. economic growth and security in the years ahead, DOE said in the white paper, “A National Strategy for American Leadership in Batteries.”
For utilities, batteries are increasingly indispensable for improving grid reliability and shifting load, particularly in regions where data center loads threaten to disrupt power flows, DOE said in the paper. Data centers themselves could account for one-quarter of total U.S. battery demand by 2030, according to a Benchmark Mineral Intelligence forecast cited in the paper.
The U.S. today is heavily dependent on external trade partners — particularly China — for battery materials and components, which “poses substantial supply chain risks,” DOE said in the paper.
Recent investments in U.S. battery cell and pack manufacturing have not been matched by investments in U.S. production of precursor components, creating gaps in the supply chain, DOE said.
“We have substantial work to do to secure the materials and manufacturing capabilities [lithium-ion batteries] require,” Robertson said in an email. “China currently controls between 60% and 100% of global production capacity across several critical stages of battery materials and component manufacturing … [which] represents a serious vulnerability for American industry and national security.”
China and other Asian countries host nearly all global lithium-ion battery cathode, anode and separator manufacturing and nearly 93% of electrolyte manufacturing, DOE said in 2024.
Robertson said the BattMan consortium, which has support from DOE’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, would expand the Trump administration’s efforts to boost domestic sources of battery materials and components.
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory leads the consortium, with participation from Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Laboratory of the Rockies, formerly known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. BattMan’s research university partners include the University of Alabama, Arizona State University, Binghamton University, the University of Michigan–Dearborn and the University of Washington.
DOE says the consortium will advance three strategic objectives: establish a “mine-to-market” domestic supply chain by 2030; develop new battery technologies that are “more affordable, longer lasting, higher performing, and less reliant on critical minerals;” and scale deployment of advanced battery technologies in sectors critical to national security.
“We’re excited about technologies that use more abundant domestic materials, reduce dependence on foreign supply chains, and can be manufactured competitively here in the United States,” Robertson said in an email.
In August, DOE announced $500 million in funding for seven projects to expand U.S. critical minerals and materials processing, battery manufacturing and recycling projects. Award recipients include a California-based company expanding lithium-ion battery anode manufacturing with U.S.-sourced materials and another firm piloting battery production using ultra‑thin lithium‑metal films and “prelithiated” material.
The latter “could enable higher-energy, faster-charging batteries,” Robertson said.
According to PNNL, BattMan will work to overcome barriers that have kept promising, U.S.-developed energy storage technologies like these from reaching commercial scale.
The consortium will use a “cost-focused” research and development strategy that “[takes] performance, manufacturability and scalability into account up front;” broaden innovation beyond lithium-ion technologies using “platform technologies that are applicable to all energy storage chemistries;” modernize energy storage manufacturing using digital twins and other AI-enabled tools; and develop reliable, data-driven frameworks for validating emerging energy storage technologies, PNNL said.
