Maine Receives $147M DOE Grant for Energy Storage Facility

Photo byEvgeniy AlyoshinonUnsplash

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Maine a grant for $147 million funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will be used for a project at the former Lincoln paper mill site. The grant is part of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program projects.

The project Power Up New England is for an 85 MW multi-day energy storage facility. It will be the first of its kind in New England and will also be the largest long-duration energy storage project currently in the world. The project will use iron-air technology and the battery will be able to continuously discharge energy for up to 100 hours or just over four days. This project will also strengthen the transmission system to support the delivery of higher power loads from renewables, including nearby onshore wind turbines.

Maine Governor Mills said, "Maine is a national leader in advancing clean energy and innovation, which will strengthen our economy, stabilize high energy costs driven by fossil fuels, and create good job opportunities all across our state. This award is a recognition of that leadership. Through collaboration with other states in New England to develop innovative energy solutions like Power Up, Maine is taking proactive steps to ensure our energy future is clean, reliable, and affordable. This investment will play an important role in revitalizing Lincoln, including the site of the former paper mill, providing new opportunities for rural Maine. I thank the Biden-Harris Administration for this investment and for its support of our work to build a more resilient, clean electrical grid that can withstand the impacts of a changing climate."

💻You can email me anytime with your local news tips, crime news, media releases, community concerns you would like addressed, political concerns and issues, non-profit news, and needs, people doing good things in your community, story suggestions, etc. to TheMaineWriter@gmail.com