DOE-Funded Grid Storage Launchpad Wins Battery Council International’s 2025 Innovation Award

PNNL’s Grid Storage Launchpad (GSL) has been honored with the 2025 Battery Council International (BCI) Innovation Award.

The award recognizes the GSL’s role as a national resource for accelerating the development, validation, and deployment of battery energy storage systems. Funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE), the 93,000-square-foot facility brings all phases of the battery development cycle under one roof—from materials research and prototyping to 100 kW–scale system testing.

The GSL was primarily funded by DOE-OE, in collaboration with the DOE Office of Science and with support from the State of Washington, Washington State Department of Commerce, Battelle, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

“Partnerships between the private sector and U.S. national labs are critical to supporting continuous improvement to existing technology and developing the next generation of energy storage solutions,” said Roger Miksad, president and executive director of BCI. “Battery Council International is proud to recognize PNNL and the spirit of partnership and collaboration that its Grid Storage Launchpad represents.”

With diagnostic tools such as plasma-focused ion beam systems, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and both pouch and prismatic cell production lines, the GSL gives researchers and industry partners the opportunity to explore new battery chemistries and formats under realistic grid conditions. This capability reduces the time, risk, and cost of moving new technologies toward commercial readiness.

“The GSL represents a national investment in innovation and infrastructure,” said Vince Sprenkle, director of GSL. “It’s a dedicated facility for testing and validating storage technologies, enabling the development of solutions that enhance grid reliability and resilience, ensuring a secure energy future for all Americans.”

Named in honor of the late Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz, former CEO of East Penn Manufacturing, the BCI Innovation Award celebrates projects that reflect the battery industry’s core values of safety, cost-effectiveness, performance, and impact. As the energy landscape evolves, the GSL stands out as a platform for collaboration and next-generation storage development that serves both industry needs and national priorities. This award recognizes not only the important contributions that the GSL is poised to make in battery science and technology but also the efforts that PNNL has dedicated to advancing public-private partnerships in battery research.

“This recognition from BCI is a meaningful milestone for the GSL,” said Sprenkle. “The GSL was built to accelerate the path from lab discovery to real-world deployment. By bringing researchers, tools, and technologies together, the GSL is helping industry lower risk, shorten development timelines, reduce costs, and move faster toward grid-ready solutions.”

PNNL also received an honorable mention for BCI’s Amplify Award, recognizing the GSL awareness campaign’s role in raising public and industry visibility around national storage innovation.

For more information about the GSL, visit PNNL’s GSL page.