WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE) today launched the new Science Synthesis Prize: Identifying Key Barriers to Renewable Integration. This one-phase competition aims to address opportunities and challenges as renewable technologies are integrated onto the electric grid. The Science Synthesis Prize is part of a new program called the Grid Resource Integration Technologies (GRIT) Prize Series, a joint effort between OE and the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) that falls under the American-Made Challenges Program.
The Science Synthesis prize incentivizes energy stakeholders to analyze renewable energy integration theory and practice. OE invites students, researchers, scientists, and engineers to form multidisciplinary teams to develop research that addresses potential roadblocks and investment areas for large-scale integration to communicate key takeaways to other industry stakeholders. This $125,000 prize will provide $10,000 for as many as 10 teams with five additional $5,000 cash prizes for exceptional submissions.
“Achieving our nation’s sustainability and reliability goals for renewable energy integration requires innovation in the power sector and rapid technology development,” said Sandy Jenkins, Grid Controls director in the Office of Electricity. “This prize series will incentivize teams to work together to develop ideas, technologies, and processes that can accelerate grid resource integration while improving system reliability, resilience, affordability, and security. We look forward to the innovative ideas that will emerge from this prize.”
The winning insights from the Science Synthesis Prize will also help shape the new GRIT Prize Series. The series will catalyze research and development efforts across multiple energy offices focused on grid modernization through the large-scale integration of renewable technology, distributed resources, and stationary storage.
Competitors interested in the GRIT Prize Series can also look forward to the return of the Energy Storage Innovations Prize in June 2024. Round 2 of this single-phase, $300,000 competition recognizes emerging energy storage solutions that may be considered niche or unconventional but meet specific use cases for energy storage in underserved communities, including those in extreme climates.
The Science Synthesis Prize closes in August 2024. Learn more about this competition, including key dates and submission details, on HeroX, the official prize platform.
Learn more about the Office of Electricity’s work.
