The U.S. Department of Energy launched a program to speed up the advancement of battery storage technologies and establish the U.S. as a leader in energy storage utilization and exports.

The program aims to strengthen the U.S. domestic manufacturing supply chain and become independent of foreign sources of critical materials by 2030. The program is managed by DOE's Research and Technology Investment Committee.

Dubbed as the Energy Storage Grand Challenge, the program builds on the $158 million advanced energy storage initiative under the current administration's 2020 fiscal year budget request.

The agency will release requests for information soliciting stakeholder feedback on the program, and will also host a series of workshops with key stakeholders.