Rapid contracting reflects the urgency of meeting warships’ energy needs
Andrew Higier, DIU’s energy portfolio director, noted that this contract represents the fastest solicitation-to-award process in his portfolio. “The Navy approached us about replacing one of the weapons systems on the DDG-1000 with large-scale energy storage. That’s an electric ship. So we said, yeah, we think we could do that,” Higier stated at the WEST 2025 conference, co-hosted by the U.S. Naval Institute and AFCEA. This urgency highlights the project’s critical nature.
The energy requirements of the all-electric Zumwalt-class warships, particularly when docked, significantly strain existing installation power grids. This challenge is compounded by the rapid growth of AI data centers, which are also heavy energy consumers.
Rear Adm. Brad Rosen, commander of Navy Region Southwest, emphasized the critical power needs during the “Energizing the Battlefield” panel discussion.