The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) on Wednesday issued a solicitation seeking large-scale commercial solutions to provide the Navy with improved energy resilience with a better cost structure.
The notice said new and future Navy platforms will need more power and energy production, storage and distribution for various applications. This includes requirements for increased “on-board storage capacity and power conversion systems, including high-voltage alternating current (AC), medium voltage AC, and low-voltage direct current (DC) interfaces.”
“Commercial power solutions hold the potential to scale modular energy storage systems, maximize efficiency of physical footprint, reduce development and sustainment costs, improve obsolescence management, decrease foreign supply chain reliance, and enable greater efficiency of electrification for shipboard power and mission systems,” DIU said in the notice.
DIU acknowledged large-scale commercial energy solutions will still require particular militarization and hardening improvements for Navy requirements like shock and vibration, electromagnetic interference, performance and other safety specifications.
It said the ideal solutions will include “vertically integrated, modularized energy storage and power conversion systems” that also include thermal management associated controls, and safety mitigation broadly proven in complex maritime environments where “power surety and redundancy are mandatory. “
DIU also said the prototype should be scalable to the power and energy demands platforms and that missions require.
The notice included a list of minimum threshold characteristics, admitting commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) systems may not start by meeting all desired military attributes. This includes particularly power interfaces, features of scalable modules, desired commercial cells, energy storage safety features and integration and maintenance costs.
DIU also outlined the expected phases of the contract: evaluation of commercial systems designs relative to military requirements; design, prototyping and land-based abusive and operational acceptance testing of components to meet military safety standards, then maturation of prototypes with an approved supply chain and delivery of modularized energy systems with capability of at least four megawatt-hours and eight megawatts of power or shipboard integration.
Responses are due by June 21.