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Vince Sprenkle
Strategic Advisor – Energy Storage; Electrochemical Materials and Systems Group
Vince Sprenkle
Strategic Advisor – Energy Storage; Electrochemical Materials and Systems Group
Biography
Developing technology to store electrical energy to meet demand when needed represents a major breakthrough in electricity distribution. For more than a decade, Vince Sprenkle has been at the forefront of this effort.
As senior strategic advisor for energy storage at PNNL and a recognized leader in electrochemical energy conversion and storage, Sprenkle holds 32 patents for his work on fuel cells, batteries, and electrochemical devices. He was named the Distinguished Inventor of Battelle in 2017 and PNNL Inventor of the Year in 2014.
“We’ve seen steady progress in increasing the discharge duration of grid-scale batteries, from about 15 minutes in 2009 to 4 hours today,” Sprenkle said. “Over the next decade, we will see significant strides toward storage systems that provide 10 to 24 hours of continuous power, in addition to systems that can deliver seasonal storage solutions.”
Sprenkle and the PNNL team are developing a suite of long duration energy storage technologies to meet this future need, from new, lower-cost flow batteries, batteries based on sodium and other earth abundant minerals, to seasonal storage technologies.
To have these technologies available to meet the country’s 2030 clean energy goals, accelerating development and validating performance will be critical for industrial adoption. The new Grid Storage Launchpad at PNNL, a $75 million facility expected to open for operations in 2024, will be instrumental in helping the U.S. Department of Energy meet the nation’s long-term energy storage needs.
“The research being conducted at PNNL is at the forefront of energy storage, research, and development,” said Sprenkle. “It includes fundamental characterization of battery materials and development of next-generation materials to improve the desired performance of the battery.”