The US Department of Energy’ (DOE’s) Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) is awarding $100 million to eight clean energy technology projects through the Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) program.

SCALEUP (earlier post) provides a path to market for previously funded ARPA-E projects that have established market interest and proven successes within the respective industry. The SCALEUP program provides further funding to previous ARPA-E teams that have been determined to be feasible for widespread deployment and commercialization domestically.

The selected projects, sponsored by private companies across seven different states, will develop novel technologies that enhance existing clean energy infrastructure, such as aircraft electrification, rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging, and advanced floating offshore wind turbine technologies. The eight teams selected as part of the latest group of SCALEUP awardees are:

• Ampaire Inc. will work to commercialize hybrid electric propulsion technologies for aircraft. The planned development and testing program will include tests consistent with FAA certification requirements. These practical electrified technologies could save more than 50% on fuel and emissions, and 25% on operating costs. (Award amount: $9,000,000)  
• CorePower Magnetics, Inc. will establish the first scaled domestic manufacturing of high-power density magnetic components based on their engineered alloy technology to commercialize new inductors, transformers, and motors of significantly reduced size and weight. By reducing the size of these components and improving efficiency, this will dramatically improve EV efficiency. (Award amount: $5,000,000) 
• Imagen Energy will scale up and commercially demonstrate efficient, cost-effective US-manufactured EV fast charging equipment. The compact EV fast charger will optimize limited grid power availability at public and fleet charging locations to enable resilience and flexibility and is ideal for urban communities that otherwise lack investment opportunities to deliver the benefits of EVs. (Award amount: $12,000,000) 
• InventWood LLC will contribute to the decarbonization of buildings and enable built structures to store significantly greater amounts of carbon by scaling up a game-changing wood material, MettleWood, that is 60% stronger than construction grade steel but 80% lighter, much less expensive, and far more sustainable. MettleWood has the potential to serve as a replacement for structural beams, columns, and connections that will ultimately result in significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. (Award amount: $20,000,000)  
• Kent Houston Offshore Engineering will advance two disruptive floating offshore wind turbine technologies that are integrated with a NASA-developed passive control system. Designs will focus on lower fabrication costs, reduced design loads, and lighter, more efficient and cost-effective integrated units, which will result in significantly lower levelized cost of electricity and ultimately profitable floating offshore wind farms. (Award amount: $17,500,000)  
• Niron Magnetics, Inc. will commercialize the first powerful permanent magnet that is free of critical materials. Niron’s magnet is instead made from abundant commodity raw materials. This will enable a less expensive, domestically manufacturable solution for the clean economy with minimum supply chain risk and a significantly reduced environmental footprint. (Award amount: $17,500,000)  
• Quidnet Energy, Inc. will scale its Geomechanical Pumped Storage (GPS) to a commercial system at CPS Energy, the largest U.S. municipal utility. GPS uses the earth as a mechanical battery by storing energy as pressurized water between layers of rock. The objective is to lower cost associated with long-duration energy storage by 50-75% to enable more reliable and cost-effective utilization of renewable electricity generating assets. (Award amount: $10,000,000)  
• Via Separations, Inc. will show how innovative membrane modules used in industrial manufacturing processes can be readily applied to a variety of pulp and paper facilities. The project will adapt the technology for broader use in other industries and offer potential energy cost savings of up to 90% along with associated CO₂ emission reductions. (Award amount: $9,750,000)  

This is the second cohort of projects funded under the SCALEUP program, following nine projects funded in 2019 that have each made significant progress toward commercialization. This latest announcement brings total SCALEUP funding to more than $170 million for 17 projects spanning a wide variety of technical areas.