The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced funding of more than $35 million for 42 projects through its Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). These projects aim to move new energy technologies—such as those involving grid security, artificial intelligence, nuclear energy, and advanced manufacturing—from DOE National Laboratories, plants, and sites into the marketplace. In addition to federal funding, private and public partners will contribute over $21 million in cost sharing. This brings the total investment to more than $57.5 million.
The TCF program is managed by the Office of Technology Commercialization’s Core Laboratory Infrastructure for Market Readiness (CLIMR) Lab Call. Its goal is to foster public-private partnerships that help maximize taxpayer investments and maintain U.S. leadership in global innovation and competitiveness.
“The Energy Department’s National Labs play an important role in ensuring the United States leads the world in innovation,” said Secretary Wright. “These projects have the potential to accelerate technological breakthroughs that will define the future of science and help secure America’s energy future.”
This year’s awards involve 19 DOE National Labs, plants, and sites across the country. Among them:
– Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will launch America’s Cradle to Commerce (AC2C), building on its previous Cradle to Commerce (C2C) program that supported lab-to-market innovation. In 18 months, C2C participants raised more than $15 million and launched five commercial pilots.
– Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will expand its Visual Intellectual Property Search (VIPS) tool through a VIPS 2.0 project, making it easier for users to search innovations from national labs available for licensing or open-source use.
– Argonne National Laboratory will work on advancing commercialization of OpenMC Monte Carlo particle transport code via the Exascale Computing Project; this supports nuclear safety analysis and helps speed up design and licensing timelines for nuclear reactor projects.
A full list of selected projects for 2025 can be found at https://www.energy.gov/technologytransitions/articles/department-energy-announces-over-35-million-advance-emerging-energy.
