Agenda

Session Moderator: TBD

• 9:00 – 9:05: Welcome (Will McNamara, Principal Investigator of the LDES National Consortium, Sandia National Laboratories)
• 9:05 – 9:15 Department of Energy, Office of Technology Commercialization Opening Remarks (TBD)
• 9:15 – 9:30: Co-Sponsor Opening Remarks (Mitzi Montoya, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Utah)
• 9:30 – 10:30 LDES National Consortium Update & Announcements (Will McNamara, Principal Investigator of the LDES National Consortium, Sandia National Laboratories)

SPECIAL EVENT Demonstration and Deployment Projects Review

Demonstration projects play an integral role in the bankability and future investment of general infrastructure in the grid-supporting assets. With the need for LDES technologies increasing, the typical end-users need to have a certain degree of guarantee on their investment on new infrastructure. Having substantial operational data from reasonable scale demonstration projects generally decreases the risk of novel technologies, by providing an enhanced learning experience.

• Moderator: Henk Laubscher (Sandia National Laboratories)
• Presenters: Dan Petcovic (Sumitomo), John Langhus (Photon Vault), Herbie Johnson (Colliers)

• PRESENTATION + DISCUSSION LDES Commercialization — Where Things Stand Today
  This session will provide a holistic overview of the state of US commercialization of LDES technologies through the review of significant projects, deployments, and investments that have been initiated within the last year.
  
  • Presenter: Will McNamara (Sandia National Laboratories)
• PRESENTATION + DISCUSSION Fire Safety Case Studies and Lessons
  This session will focus on practical fire safety lessons for long duration energy storage through a combination of incident review, code awareness, and audience discussion. The session is planned in three parts: a 20-minute guest presentation on a fire incident case study and key findings, a 20-minute presentation on Safety Codes Dashboard, and a 20-minute facilitated discussion and Q&A. The goal is to help participants connect real-world incidents with lessons for safety practice and code development.
  • Moderator: Venkat Durvasula (Idaho National Laboratory)
  • Presenters: Chris Searles (CGS & Associates), Curtis Ashton (American Power Systems)
• PRESENTATION + DISCUSSION Evaluating Pathways for New LDES Revenue Streams
  This session will include a discussion of LDES value from a utility perspective, with attention given to levelized cost of storage frameworks, revenue uncertainty, and risk adjustment influences on RFP outcomes. We will also cover the output of one of the Economics and Valuation Tiger Team working groups defining the path of new revenue streams through conceptualization, quantification, monetization, and revenue production phases. The session will be highly interactive, and the input we receive will help shape the completion of our research.
  • Presenters: Patrick Balducci (Argonne National Laboratory), Konstantinos Chiotinis (DTE Energy), Bo Cheng (Argonne National Laboratory)
• PANEL Exploring the Use Cases of LDES
  Use cases were developed relevant to LDES technologies and LDES market perspectives. The Use Case Development Tiger Team supports partners in identifying use cases that provide grid resilience and meet surging electricity demand from data centers and seasonal peak demand. Additionally, with the gathered use case scenarios and prioritized use cases promising for customer adoption and investment confidence, this session will explore applications including load management, firming PPAs, and transmission and distribution deferral, which have direct impacts on electricity costs for ratepayers and returns for energy investors.
  • Moderator: Zhiyuen Ma (National Laboratory of the Rockies)
  • Panelists: Kelyn Wood (EPRI), Leslie Ponder (B&V), Walt Vernon (Mazzetti)

• WORKSHOP Safety and Security Readiness Tabletop
  This session will be an interactive readiness exercise focused on how the LDES community thinks through emerging safety and security threats. Participants will be invited to respond to short scenarios using three perspectives: “Red” for how a threat could escalate or what could go wrong, “Blue” for prevention, mitigation, response, or recovery actions, and “Orange” for additional perspectives such as operational constraints, code gaps, public perception, deployment barriers, or unintended consequences. The intent is to make this a practical, audience-driven discussion that surfaces readiness gaps, highlights different stakeholder viewpoints, and helps define where the tiger team can continue to add value in safety and security.
  • Moderator: Venkat Durvasulu (Idaho National Laboratory)
• PRESENTATION + DISCUSSION A Review of Regulatory Developments Driving LDES Forward at the State Level
  This session will include an up-to-date status of state-level regulatory initiatives specific to LDES technologies that have occurred within the last year.
  • Presenter: Will McNamara (Sandia National Laboratories)
• PRESENTATION + DISCUSSION Honing your LDES Pitch
  An effective investor pitch can be the difference between a promising LDES concept and a funded program, especially when the same story needs to land with very different audiences. This session focuses on how to tailor your message to who’s listening, from tech-forward venture firms to large institutional capital. We’ll walk through common investor types, how expectations and decision criteria shift, and what tends to work (and what doesn’t). The discussion will be grounded by a mix of capital providers and technologists who have successfully delivered and raised funding, with time for interactive Q&A and audience input.
  • Moderator: Jeffrey Gifford (National Laboratory of the Rockies) and Luke McLaughlin (Sandia National Laboratories)
  • Presenter: Richard Baxter (Mustang Prairie Energy)
• PRESENTATION + DISCUSSION Rethinking Reliability/Resilience Metrics and Approaches for Measuring and Monetizing LDES Contributions to Grid Stability
  This session covers the metrics and approaches for defining reliability contributions of different resources, including LDES, and assigning value to the reliability/resilience services they provide. The session will discuss capacity accreditation metrics (e.g., effective load carrying capacity, direct loss of load) commonly used to assess the reliability contribution of different resources, shortcomings associated with these metrics, and alternative metrics that might provide a more comprehensive means of measuring the reliability contributions of new technologies such as LDES. The session will also evaluate the current state of the art in defining the value of reliability/resilience contributions of grid assets as well as an alternative multi-hazard risk-based approach being developed by Argonne National Laboratory with input from the LDES National Consortium Reliability and Resilience Tiger Team.
  • Presenters: Patrick Balducci (Argonne National Laboratory) and Torrey Lyons (Idaho National Laboratory)

SPECIAL EVENT R&D Lightning Talks
This session provides a platform to accelerate innovation and collaboration across the LDES community. Universities and national laboratories will deliver brief presentations highlighting their latest LDES research, aiming to foster connections and explore collaborative opportunities. Each presentation will be followed by audience Q&A, with further conversations encouraged during the networking reception that follows.

• Moderator: Marisa Montes (Sandia National Laboratories) and Will McNamara (Sandia National Laboratories)
• Presenters:
  • Long Duration Subsurface Storage using Geothermal and Hydrogen: Milind Deo (University of Utah)
  • Grid Storage Using Flow Batteries and 3D Architectured Electrodes: Buddhinie Jaythilake (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)
  • Advanced Electrochemical Energy Storage Systems based on Intermediate- and High-temperature Cells: Pejman Kazempoor (University of Oklahoma)
  • Base-Load Nuclear with Heat Storage and Combustion Turbine for Dispatchable Electricity with Infinite-Duration Assured Peak Power More than Twice Reactor Output: Charles Forsberg (MIT)

Session Moderator: TBD

• 9:00 – 9:15: Welcome & Day 1 Recap (Will McNamara, Principal Investigator of the LDES National Consortium, Sandia National Laboratories)
• 9:15 – 9:30: Sandia Opening Remarks (Ray Byrne, Manager, Energy Storage, Sandia National Laboratories)
• 9:30 – 10:15: Department of Energy, Office of Electricity, Presentation Keynote (Eric Hsieh, Department of Energy, Office of Electricity)

SPECIAL EVENT Technology Pitches – Defining the Future of LDES Technologies
Step into a dynamic breakout session where leading innovators and thought leaders in LDES present their cutting-edge technologies and visions for the future. This session will focus on introducing new technologies, the organizations behind them, and the specific use cases they’re designed to address. Participants will delve into key performance indicators (KPIs) beyond roundtrip efficiency, such as cost per capacity, reliability, and adaptability. Join us to explore areas of need and collaboration and discover how these technologies can be scaled to meet real-world demands. Whether you’re a developer, investor, or policy influencer, this session is your opportunity to learn about the next wave of LDES solutions.

• Moderator: Luke McLaughlin (Sandia National Laboratories)
• Presenters:
  • Darryl Mendivil (Sytis)
  • Elias Greenbaum (GTA H2)
  • Shaung Cui (UT Dallas)
  • Willian Conlon (Pintail Power)
  • Mark Weathers (EIC)
  • Pejman Kazempoor (University of Oklahoma)

• FIRESIDE CHAT Utility Perspective
  This session will focus on a discussion of the unique needs of utilities as they consider LDES development. Factors such as whether a utility is an IOU, municipal or co-op; whether or not the utility operates in a vertically integrated or restructured market; and the existence of enabling or restrictive policies all can have significant impacts.
  • Moderator: Will McNamara (Sandia National Laboratories)
  • Panelist: Huiyi Jackson (Edison Electric Institute)
• PRESENTATION + DISCUSSION Increasing US Manufacturing and Workforce Competitiveness
  The talk will discuss modernizing manufacturing and workforce development, focusing on both technology and people. We’ll cover domestic manufacturing, the use of advanced tools like automation and AI to improve efficiency and resilience, and skills gaps with the need for training, apprenticeships, and stronger industry–education partnerships.
  • Presenters: Lionel Toba (Idaho National Laboratory) and Hope Corsair (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
• PRESENTATION + DISCUSSION Grid Infrastructure Readiness for LDES Integration
  The grid infrastructure for LDES integration refer to any situation in which an LDES technology is connected to distribution or transmission infrastructure. This includes instances in which LDES technologies are deployed behind the meter. This session will share the findings on grid infrastructure readiness and LDES integration challenges as expressed, discussed, and agreed upon over last two and half years of engagement with private industries, utility, and research institutions. This interactive session will offer additional insights from the session participants’ view, feedback, and recommendations on the next immediate steps to enhance grid infrastructure readiness for LDES integration.
  • Moderator: SM Shafiul Alam (Idaho National Laboratory)
  • Presenter: Davoud Zamani (GridWrap)
• PANEL Data Centers and LDES
  This session will discuss the energy needs of a data center and the value that energy storage can have on this customer segment. Through this session we will discuss the importance of location for data centers and technologies, what data center developers are looking for, and how to integrate energy storage technology. What are the barriers and what are data center customers looking for? Are there specific technologies that would be best? How are they integrating with the grid (or not)?
  • Moderator: Rebecca Barney (National Laboratory of the Rockies)
  • Panelists: Dr. Masood Parvania (University of Utah), Leslie Ponder (Black & Veatch), Travis Torrey (Storion Energy)

• PANEL Value Addition and Lessons Learned of LDES Demonstrations
  In this session, we will discuss the value that LDES assets are anticipated to add to grid operators in the future applications. This will include looking at the role of LDES in the future architecture of the electricity grid system. There are also many lessons learned from the deployment of existing projects that can help inform the LDES development and role in the future.
  • Moderator: Henk Laubscher (Sandia National Laboratories)
  • Panelists: Huiyi Jackson (Edison Electric Institute), Mark Thompson (FORM Energy), Dustin Highers (Chugach Electric), Jerald “Chico” Hunter (Salt River Project)
• PANEL LDES Participation in Wholesale Electricity Markets
  Over the next 5–10 years, the LDES industry must continue to explore ways to ensure wholesale electricity market design is compatible with new technologies and efficiently supports reliable and affordable system operation. In this session, expert panelists will discuss the wholesale electricity market landscape and its current implications for LDES investment and operational practices. We will then discuss several incremental and more substantial market design changes that may be considered to help ensure that LDES resources are appropriately compensated for the system value that they provide.
  • Moderator: Todd Levin (Argonne National Laboratory)
  • Panelists/Presenters: Gabe Murtaugh (Hydrostor), Emma Nicholson (Charles River Associates), Peter Klauer (CAISO)
• PRESENTATION + DISCUSSION Nuclear Energy + LDES
  Nuclear energy is especially suitable to be coupled with LDES to smooth its operation and maximize plant efficiency and return. The session will present various nuclear reactor technologies and their abilities to integrate energy storage. Energy storage, particularly thermal energy storage, can maintain reactor constant load for optimum operations. Combined power and heat supplied by small modular reactors and thermal energy storage are suitable for industry complexes such as chemical production and refinery plants for reliable low-cost energy sources. The session will present various potentials for nuclear energy integrating with LDES to meet the fluctuation of energy demand peak and valley.
  • Moderator: Zhiwen Ma (National Laboratory of the Rockies)
  • Presenters: Dr. Supathorn Phongikaroon (University of Utah), Kelyn Wood (EPRI), Jeffrey Gifford (National Laboratory of the Rockies), Rebecca Barney (National Laboratory of the Rockies)
• WORKSHOP LDES Risk Evaluation Framework
  Numerous deployment barriers remain before LDES technologies can achieve commercial liftoff, and these assets are essential to support grid resiliency and reduce natural gas reliance, among others. Currently, no consistent, cross-technology framework exists to assess these risks. This initiative seeks to identify and explore key factors (risks) influencing LDES technologies’ deployment prospects, create structured and visual artifacts of these risks, and evaluate potential vulnerabilities and how they affect commercial liftoff. The purpose of this discussion is to offer insights to industry stakeholders, policymakers, equipment manufacturers, utilities, potential future project developers, and investors regarding the commercialization pathways for LDES in the power sector, as well as the roles these entities play within this important space. This session will be addressing the following topics: 1) specific risks associated with different (selected) LDES technologies, 2) technology-agnostic risk taxonomy and proxy indicator mapping, 3) overview of risk scoring methodology, and 4) preliminary results.
  • Presenters: Carlos Lopez (Argonne National Laboratory), Hope Corsair (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), Lionel Toba (Idaho National Laboratory)

• 4:15 – 4:45: What’s Next for the Consortium? (New Lead Organization)
• 4:45 – 5:00: Closing Remarks (Will McNamara, Principal Investigator of the LDES National Consortium, Sandia National Laboratories)

Two tours will be offered to workshop attendees. If you are interested in attending, please review the tour options and sign up here. There are capacities for both tours, so sign up soon! Both tours will meet at the S.J. Quinney College of Law and transportation will be provided.

Tour 1 (University of Utah)
This tour highlights several key energy and sustainability facilities across the University of Utah campus. Participants will visit the LEED Platinum S.J. Quinney College of Law to explore its sustainable design features, followed by stops at the NSF WIRED Global Center’s smart grid simulation testbed and the Utah Nuclear Reactor Lab, which supports research and training in nuclear energy applications. The tour concludes with a visit to Gardner Commons to examine geothermal heating and cooling systems in operation, showcasing how campus buildings integrate renewable energy and decarbonization strategies.

Tour 2 (Torus GigaOne Facility)
This tour provides an inside look at Torus’s GigaOne manufacturing facility, where flywheel and battery-based energy storage systems are produced and integrated at scale. Participants will walk through the production floor to see how systems are built and tested, and learn how Torus technologies are being deployed for grid services, including rapid response and high reliability operations in partnership with utilities. The visit also highlights real-world performance metrics such as fast ramp times, high uptime, and active grid support use cases. Participants should note that an NDA is required for entry.