DOE’s $500,000 storage prize targets manufacturing problems at the design stage

The Department of Energy’s 2026 Storage Design Strategies to Ease Production Prize put an early question to grid-storage developers: can the design be manufactured with materials and processes a supplier can reliably provide?

Launched July 7, the $500,000 STEP competition focused on emerging stationary and grid-scale technologies. DOE sought approaches that would address production and sourcing obstacles early enough to avoid expensive redesigns.

The two-phase structure separated an initial idea from further development. Phase 1 offered up to three $20,000 champion prizes and nine $10,000 finalist prizes. Phase 2 offered up to two $100,000 champion awards and three $50,000 finalist awards.

Individuals, startups, small businesses and academic institutions were among the invited participants, subject to the competition’s eligibility rules. The funding was a prize pool spread across selected entrants, not a factory-construction grant for each applicant.

Phase 1 closed October 8, 2026. The historical opportunity was to test a manufacturing solution while a storage technology was still taking shape, before difficult sourcing or production choices became fixed in the design.