Long-duration energy storage (LDES) is best-suited for applications in which power is needed for longer time frames and when renewables or distributed energy resources aren’t producing power. And these technologies can bring added resiliency to microgrids, said Jana Gerber, president of Microgrid North America at Schneider Electric.

The U.S. military is especially interested in deploying LDES at mission-critical facilities to withstand cyberattacks and extreme weather, she said.

And in California, where wildfires are sparking outages and public safety power events, the California Energy Commission (CEC) is working with Indian Energy – a Native American-owned microgrid developer that focuses on government and tribal utility installations – to learn as much as possible about LDES technologies through a number of grants.