Massive Battery Tech, Research Facility Opens at PNNL Richland

This week, a new $75 million dollar research facility has opened at Pacific Northwest National Labs in Richland.

  The new facility will conduct multiple battery and energy storage research projects

It's called the Grid Storage Launchpad, a collaboration with DOE (Department of Energy) and Microsoft to explore ways to enhance and expand battery capabilities.

According to Geekwire:

"The center, based in Richland, Wash., aims to bring together researchers and industry partners to develop grid-scale energy storage technologies for all stages of the battery development cycle. State-of-the-art batteries are crucial to storing energy harnessed from the sun, or serving as backups during power outages. Over the next decade, experts say electricity needs in the Pacific Northwest could spike 30%."

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PNNL announced recently they have teamed with Microsoft to try to reduce lithium content in batteries by as much as 70 percent. The partnership study is a 3-year project.   It will also utilize AI and cloud computing to find what officials say are clean energy solutions.

With numerous companies building data centers in and around the Pacific Northwest, officials say this battery research will be crucial.