Arup and partners celebrate opening of new Grid Storage Launchpad at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

The new facility brings all phases of the battery development and deployment cycle under one roof, ranging from fundamental materials and device prototyping to 100 kW-scale testing and validation. In partnership with the design team, Arup delivered services and control infrastructure to enable safe operations with the testing and validation cells, which are used to evaluate the performance of both commercial and industrial battery technology applied to the electric grid. In conversation with laboratory stakeholders, Arup developed and implemented a “template” for each of the labs so that the location of all of the equipment could be preorganized, ensuring optimal fabrication and installation, and future proofing later changes to its program. Arup also helped connect the GSL to the existing Heat Transfer Building to recapture and reuse waste heat from an adjacent computing facility.

The GSL includes 30 laboratory modules, a laboratory suite dedicated to testing energy storage technologies, workstations, collaboration areas, and multiple conference rooms. Energy storage is essential in meeting the nation’s decarbonization goals and making our grid more resilient and secure. As electric grid storage infrastructure becomes increasingly important, PNNL’s commitment to evaluating and developing technological solutions at the GSL will help to increase reliability and scalability of new technologies for years and decades to come.