NSF RETI Engine in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania

Award ID: 2532458

The Resilient Energy Technology and Infrastructure (RETI) Consortium addresses a pressing national challenge: the widening gap between industrial energy demand and the reliability of the U.S. electrical grid. Reshoring supply chains, scaling advanced manufacturing, meeting the emerging needs associated with AI, and reinvigorating energy-intensive industries such as chemicals and steel all depend on consistent, high-quality power. Without coordinated investment in resilient energy infrastructure and efficient industrial energy use, the pace of domestic industrial expansion risks outstripping the systems that power it. The RETI project, anchored in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, a top energy-producing region with deep industrial heritages, aims to position the region as a national hub for grid resilience and industrial energy innovation that directly enables manufacturing growth. RETI is designed to establish a coordinated regional innovation ecosystem that advances solutions for energy reliability, resilience, and efficiency, while strengthening workforce pathways and the manufacturing base. By integrating research, technology development, workforce training, and industry partnerships, the project supports both technological advancement and community impact. Anticipated benefits include more stable energy systems for industrial users, reduced production disruptions, expanded capacity to host new and growing manufacturers, increased workforce pathways, and new economic opportunities in communities shaped by industrial transition. By aligning research, workforce development, and industry engagement with regional and national priorities, the project advances U.S. leadership in energy innovation, secures the energy foundation required for industrial expansion, and demonstrates a nationally replicable model for regional growth through innovation. The goals and scope of the project are to develop, integrate, and advance a coordinated portfolio of technologies, systems, and innovation processes that improve energy reliability, flexibility, and efficiency for energy-intensive industries such as chemicals and steel. The project is structured as an end-to-end innovation ecosystem that connects use-inspired research, technology maturation, workforce development, and pathways to deployment, supported by a broad partnership of universities, industry, state governments, and innovation ecosystem organizations. The project employs an integrated set of methods that span research, translation, and workforce alignment. Use-inspired research activities focus on grid resilience and industrial energy systems, supported by structured industry engagement that defines technical challenges and informs research priorities. Customer discovery and translational preparation activities validate use cases and adoption pathways. Milestone-driven seed funding advances early-stage technologies, while translation-to-practice activities support piloting, demonstration, and commercialization through partnerships with industry, entrepreneurs, and capital providers. Workforce development activities align training programs with emerging technology needs to support deployment and manufacturing growth. Technical approaches include digital and control system innovations such as machine learning-enabled grid management, digital twin platforms for real-time situational awareness, and secure control systems; while hardware advancements include sensing technologies, distributed energy resources, and energy storage systems based on advanced batteries and solid oxide fuel cells. These are complemented by innovation in process engineering such as hydrogen-based iron reduction, novel catalytic systems, and process intensification aimed at reducing energy use in chemical and steel production. The project addresses system-level challenges in industrial energy resilience and expands the energy headroom available for domestic manufacturing growth. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Michael Reksulak