OCED Funding Opportunity Announcements

The Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), in partnership with the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), announced a lab call to bring together stakeholders across industries to address challenges that result when people work on similar issues in isolation and develop actionable recommendations, strategies, and best practices to facilitate scale-up and replication. This lab call is focused on industry alignment for clean hydrogen and long duration energy storage technologies.

The lab call is funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), as part of the DOE Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). OTT expects to make up to $15 million in BIL TCF federal funding available for projects led by DOE national laboratories, plants, and sites and supported by a diverse range of partners across the hydrogen and long duration energy storage value chains,.

Navigate to TPL-0000014 in Exchange to access the Teaming Partner List for this solicitation. 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is releasing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit applications in accordance with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). When combined with private sector cost share, this FOA represents a more than $12 billion opportunity to catalyze high-impact, large-scale, transformational advanced industrial facilities to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in energy-intensive industrial subsectors.

U.S. industry is a backbone of the nation’s economy, producing the goods critical to everyday life, employing millions of Americans in high-quality jobs, and providing an economic anchor for thousands of communities. Yet the energy- and carbon-intensity of the sector, which contributes nearly one third of the nation’s primary energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, poses a significant challenge as the economy transitions towards net-zero.

This FOA offers a critical opportunity to solidify a “first-mover” advantage for U.S. industry, bolstering its competitiveness globally for decades into the future. Activities funded under this FOA are further expected to create good-paying jobs for American workers, offer opportunities for broadly shared prosperity in communities, and enable a clean, more equitable future for all Americans.

Demonstrating the technical and commercial viability of industrial decarbonization approaches will promote widespread technology implementation and drive a U.S. edge in low- and net-zero carbon manufacturing while helping to substantiate a market for low-carbon products.

To maximize the transformative potential for these funds, DOE will prioritize a portfolio of projects that offer:

• Deep decarbonization, by demonstrating significantly less carbon-intensive industrial production processes leading to materials that can be labeled as having substantially lower levels of embodied greenhouse gas emissions;
  
  
• Timeliness, through rapid technology demonstrations that can address emissions in the near-term, meet funding horizons, and be replicated by fast followers;
  
  
• Market viability, with technological approaches designed to spur follow-on investments for widespread decarbonization as well as partnerships between buyers and sellers of the materials produced, with special consideration given to industries that are focusing on shifting entire ecosystems and enabling new market structures for low-carbon products; and
  
  
• Community benefits, tailored through substantial engagement with local and regional stakeholders, as well as labor unions and Tribal Nations across the project lifecycle, supporting environmental justice and economic opportunity for local communities.

DOE expects to award up to approximately 65 projects in high GHG-emitting industries and for cross-cutting technologies as discussed in Section 1.3 of the FOA. DOE anticipates providing awards to teams that are led by a single, for-profit organization or owner/operator of an eligible facility and encourages applicants to strengthen projects by partnering with experts, universities, labor unions, community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations, product off-takers, and/or national laboratories, as outlined in Section 3.0 of the FOA.

Given the transformative potential of these funds, DOE seeks first- or early-of-a-kind commercial-scale projects. These could include new technologies that have been proven at a pilot scale but have yet to be deployed commercially, technologies that are being pursued internationally but do not have a foothold in the U.S., or other early-of-a-kind projects that face market or adoption risks. All projects should incorporate a path from demonstration to deployment that includes sustained operation after completion and substantiate the projects’ ability to meet priority criteria.

DOE will apply the following four-phase structure for projects selected under this FOA:

• Phase 1 will encompass initial planning and analysis activities to ensure that the overall concept is technologically and financially viable.
  
  
• Phase 2 will finalize engineering designs and business development, site access, labor agreements, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, permitting, and offtake agreements.
  
  
• Phase 3 will encompass installation, integration, and construction activities.
  
  
• Phase 4 will ramp-up to full operations including data collection to analyze the plant’s operations, performance, and financial viability.

NOTE: This FOA solicits plans for all four phases of proposed activities; projects that have completed initial phases will be eligible to undergo accelerated early reviews for due diligence. DOE will work with project performers to tailor their specific approach after selections and anticipates that implementation approaches will vary between projects. All projects selected under this FOA will be eligible to complete all four phases pending successful execution of milestones; DOE is not planning a competitive down-select process among projects after awards. However, to manage risk DOE will regularly review and evaluate projects’ progress on deliverables through Go / No-Go reviews that will occur between or within phases.

Only applicants that have submitted an eligible Concept Paper will be eligible to submit a Full Application.

Background & Goals

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), authorizes DOE to invest $1 billion in energy improvements in rural or remote areas. DOE’s Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) Program will provide financial investment, technical assistance, and other resources to advance clean energy demonstrations and energy solutions that are replicable and scalable. ERA aims to fund clean energy projects with three specific goals:

The ERA Program is managed by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), whose mission is to deliver clean energy technology demonstration projects at scale to accelerate deployment, market adoption, and the equitable transition to a decarbonized energy system.

OCED seeks to provide equal opportunity to qualified applicants from rural and remote areas of the United States, which for the purposes of this statutory section means areas of less than 10,000 people. OCED recognizes that potential applicants will come to this program with widely varying energy and resilience needs. To address this reality that one size does not fit all, OCED has organized this $300 million Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) into nine geographic regions, each with its own set of broad energy challenges that provide applicants the opportunity to propose creative solutions at a variety of sizes and scales to address those challenges. Depending on response, OCED may open up additional Funding Opportunity Announcements in the future.

The ERA Program intends to improve the cost, reliability, environmental impact, and climate and economic resilience of energy systems in rural or remote communities by funding clean energy projects with commercially viable or near-commercially viable technologies. Projects funded through this FOA will de-risk investment in the energy infrastructure of rural or remote communities. Funded projects will provide insights for future investments, such as deployment of similar technologies, use of similar business models, or adoption of similar community engagement best practices and clarify pathways to future good paying union jobs.

Ensuring Direct Benefit to Rural or Remote Areas

This FOA is designed to enable citizens in rural or remote communities to realize material benefits as the result of investment in their energy infrastructure. These benefits can include, but are not limited to: lower energy costs, improved energy access, economic resilience, and environmental protection from adverse impacts of historic energy generation. Selected projects will implement cost-effective clean energy technologies that promote the overall resilience of the local energy system against climate impacts, and support more diversified rural economies better able to weather economic shocks.

To ensure that these benefits are spread equitably across affected communities applicants are required to submit a Community Benefits Plan (CBP). This plan outlines how the project will support community and labor engagement, invest in the American workforce, contribute to the President’s goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities (the Justice40 Initiative), and promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). DOE recognizes that applicants have different levels of capacity and experience related to this kind of community-focused planning, and will support FOA awardees to develop and implement robust, locally tailored, and measurable plans.

Consistent with the objectives of this program, OCED expects projects to utilize local staff and local resources to the maximum extent possible. If external resources are necessary, projects funded under this FOA and any related activities will seek to encourage meaningful engagement and participation of local business organizations, labor unions, underserved communities and underrepresented groups, federally recognized Tribes and tribal and indigenous communities and native entities.

Promoting Community Energy Solutions for Regional Climate Challenges

Selected projects will promote community energy solutions to improve the cost, reliability, environmental impacts, and climate and economic resilience of energy generation in rural or remote communities. Applicants are required to identify at least one applicable region for the project, along with any regional climate risk(s) the project is proposing to help mitigate. OCED seeks applications that leverage a region’s natural resources, local industry, stakeholders, climate and/or economic risks, or other factors, as such factors may be critical towards the ultimate replicability of the project in other rural or remote areas within the region. OCED encourages applicants to identify regional challenges and opportunities as they see fit based on their own assessment of their community’s energy challenges, needs and opportunities.

Ensuring Project Replicability

Replicability is key to market adoption of technologies to benefit rural or remote areas beyond those participating in the ERA Program. The program seeks to build confidence of decision makers to invest in clean energy in rural and remote areas, including financiers, utilities, and Tribal, State, and local governments, who can enable replication.

Proposed projects can demonstrate established, commercial technologies for the first time in a new setting or place, or at a larger scale; an innovative approach to improve siting and permitting timelines; enabling energy access for homes/communities that do not have access to electricity; self-reliance, or reduction in environmental harm from generation; economic development and local job creation leading to more overall economic resilience, and/or an innovative technology application in a rural or remote area.

Technical Assistance

Technical assistance from DOE’s national laboratories is available for eligible applicants. Technical assistance is available for concept paper preparation through office hours and limited individual sessions. Information on technical assistance, including eligibility and how to apply for it, is available here.

NOTE: Only applicants who have submitted an eligible Concept Paper by the posted deadline will be eligible to submit a Full Application.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) in collaboration with the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) for integrated carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects that demonstrate substantial improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness, cost, and environmental performance of carbon capture technologies for power, industrial, and other commercial applications. OCED’s mission is to deliver clean energy technology demonstration projects at scale in partnership with the private sector to accelerate deployment, market adoption, and the equitable transition to a decarbonized energy system. Awards made under this FOA will be funded with funds appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

While the technologies needed to decarbonize most of the U.S. economy exist, further innovation will create transformational pathways for meeting these decarbonization goals. Demonstration projects will support this innovation. Supported CCS demonstration projects will benefit entities intending to commercialize and deploy integrated CCS projects. Incentives are already driving CCS investments. Experience gained through successful execution that advance the state of this program can help to accelerate CCS deployment to achieve our climate goals while achieving other societal objectives.

CCS demonstration projects must be integrated with commercial facility operations and must be conducted in the United States. Applicants must demonstrate significant improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness, cost, operational and environmental performance of existing carbon capture technologies.This FOA seeks applications for transformational domestic, commercial-scale, integrated CCS, demonstration projects designed to further advance the development, deployment, and commercialization of technologies to capture, transport (if required), and store CO₂ emissions from:

1. two projects at new or existing coal electric generation facilities,
2. two projects at new or existing natural gas electric generation facilities, and
3. two projects at new or existing industrial facilities not purposed for electric generation.

This FOA makes available up to $1,700,000,000 for approximately 6 projects at up to a 50% federal cost share. Proposed projects must demonstrate as part of the application and during the award at least 90% CO₂ capture efficiency over baseline emissions and a path to achieve even greater CO₂ capture efficiencies for power and industrial operations. Note that if the carbon capture project includes a new, on-site auxiliary system to generate power or steam for its operation, it may need to include CO₂ capture, compression, and storage from the auxiliary system if needed to achieve the minimum unit-wide 90% CO₂ capture inclusive of the power industrial facility all new systems or processes associated with the CCS project.

This FOA focuses on on commercial scale, integrated transformational demonstration projects designed to further the development, deployment, and commercialization of technologies to capture, transport, and store emissions. This FOA seeks applications for CCS demonstration projects with existing sufficient technical detail to assess the readiness level of the proposed technologies and integrated systems to proceed into at-scale demonstrations and replication leading to commercialization. This will align to CCS technologies that have been validated to be at a minimum technology readiness level (TRL) of 7, to ensure that they are fully ready for demonstration. This means that the technologies funded can be readily replicated and deployed into commercial practice.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), in collaboration with the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for Carbon Capture Large-Scale Pilot Projects. Awards made under this FOA will be funded with funds appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

OCED’s mission is to deliver clean energy technology demonstration projects at scale in partnership with the private sector to accelerate deployment, market adoption, and the equitable transition to a decarbonized energy system. Awards made under this FOA are part of a broader government-wide approach to maximize the benefits of the clean energy transition.

Since DOE-FECM R&D efforts for carbon capture technologies began in the early 2000s, improvements in energy and process efficiencies have led to a reduction in both capital and operating costs. Supporting carbon capture large-scale pilot projects under field settings before advancing to commercial-scale demonstration and deployment will benefit entitites intending to commercialize and deploy integrated CCS projects. Successful execution of these pilots can help to accelerate CCS deployment to achieve our climate goals while achieving other societal objectives. Also, this FOA further allows development of these technologies in different industrial and hard-to-decarbonize sectors.

Carbon capture large-scale pilot projects will provide the support needed to test novel technologies at intermediate scale and under relevant conditions in both the power and industrial sector to:

1. De-risk transformational carbon capture technologies and address community concerns through meaningful engagement and robust analysis of impacts, risks and benefits such as emissions, water usage, and jobs; and
2. Catalyze significant follow-on investments from the private sector for first-of-a-kind (FOAK) commercial-scale demonstrations on carbon emission sources across the power and industrial sectors.

Pursuant to section 962(a)(1) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 as amended (42 U.S.C. § 16292(a)(1)), the term "large-scale pilot project" means a pilot project that:

(A) represents the scale of technology development beyond laboratory development and bench scale testing, but not yet advanced to the point of being tested under real operational conditions at commercial scale;

(B) represents the scale of technology necessary to gain the operational data needed to understand the technical and performance risks of the technology before the application of that technology at commercial scale or in commercial-scale demonstration; and

(C) is large enough-

     (i) to validate scaling factors; and

     (ii) to demonstrate the interaction between major components so that control philosophies for a new process can be developed and enable the technology to advance from large-scale pilot project application to commercial-scale demonstration or application.

Through this FOA, DOE makes available up to $820 million of federal funding at a maximum of 70% federal cost share for up to ten (10) carbon capture large-scale pilot projects designed to further the development of transformational technologies that capture carbon emissions from existing coal or natural gas electric generation facilities and existing industrial facilities not purposed for electric generation.

These carbon capture large-scale pilot projects must be integrated with commercial plant operations and conducted in the United States. DOE may issue additional carbon capture large-scale pilot FOAs in the future. Using multiple FOAs can help enable the validation of transformational carbon capture technologies with different maturation timelines in a large-scale pilot project once they reach the appropriate technology readiness level.

The carbon capture large-scale pilot projects funded under this FOA will generate operational data for verification and validation of the commercial potential of innovative technologies, including data on technology performance, non-CO₂ air emissions, process models, life cycle impacts, costs, scaling factors, and community benefits or negative impacts of carbon capture technologies. These pilots will help mitigate risks and aid in commercial adoption as learnings obtained from these pilots are expected to inform subsequent large-scale demonstration or commercial deployment plans.

The United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) is releasing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program (Section 40209).”

The mission of MESC is to strengthen and secure manufacturing and energy supply chains needed to modernize the nation’s energy infrastructure and support a clean and equitable energy transition.

The FOA will support the Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program, as established by Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Section 40209. The FOA will award financial assistance to small- and medium-sized manufacturers in energy communities to 1) establish new facilities or 2) re-equip or expand existing facilities for the manufacturing or recycling of advanced energy property. This first FOA will provide approximately $350 million in awards with a focus on projects with high supply chain impacts and strong community benefits plans.

Projects supported under the FOA must occur in census tracts where (a)coal mines have closed since December 31, 1999, (b) coal-fired power plant units have closed since December 31, 2009, or (c) in census tracts immediately adjacent to a or b. A mapping tool showing such closures is available here.

This Program supports the broader government-wide approach to reinvigorating and reinvesting in the American industrial base; establishing secure, resilient domestic energy supply chains; and revitalizing economies in energy communities to maximize the benefits of the clean energy transition as the nation works to curb the climate crisis, empower workers, and advance environmental justice.

DOE anticipates making awards in the form of cooperative agreements. Awardees must complete their projects no later than three years after the date of receipt of federal funds. The period of performance will be comprised of one or more budget periods. Project continuation will be contingent upon several elements, including satisfactory performance and DOE’s Go/No-Go decision.

DOE expects to make a total of approximately $350 million of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. DOE anticipates making approximately 6-35 awards under this FOA. DOE may issue one, multiple, or no awards. Individual awards may vary between $5,000,000 and $100,000,000.

Technical Assistance Program: In accordance with BIL § 40209(e) and the FOA, DOE is offering technical assistance to small- and medium-sized manufacturers who meet the requirements of eligible entities under the FOA, which will be implemented by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL). This technical assistance is intended to support project planning activities for the development of future projects, not applications to this particular FOA. For more information, visit: https://www.nrel.gov/manufacturing/recycling-grant-program.html.

For further information, please see the "Full Funding Opportunity Announcement" document in the Announcement Documents section below.

Attention: The eXCHANGE system is currently designed to enforce hard deadlines for Concept Paper and Full Application submissions. The APPLY and SUBMIT buttons automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. The intention of this design is to consistently enforce a standard deadline for all applicants.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the FOA Deadline: In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (OCED-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov).

This Request for Information (RFI) is re-issued with a new deadline of April 1, 2023. Organizations and individuals that have previously responded may respond again or revise their previous submission.

This is a RFI issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). This RFI seeks public input to help inform DOE’s development of demand-side support measures for clean energy technologies. Demand-side support measures include, but are not limited to, advanced market commitments, direct procurement, and guaranteed offtake.

Demand-side support measures represent a potential tool to support DOE’s mission by providing a predictable commercial market for clean energy technologies, and these measures have accelerated commercial scale-up of technologies in energy and other industries, both in the United States and abroad.

There are several types of demand-side support measures for clean energy commercialization that include but may not be limited to:

OCED seeks input on the following topics:

OCED seeks input on these topics from all types of clean energy technology market participants, including:

Please see the full Request for Information in the Documents section below for complete details.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION RESPONSE GUIDELINES:

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to keith.boyea@hq.doe.gov with the subject line “OCED-RFI-23-1” no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET) on April 1, 2023. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25 MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (*.docx) or Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf) attachment to the email, and no more than 5 pages in length, 12-point font, 1-inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

DOE will not publicly publish a compendium of responses. A response to this RFI will not be viewed as a binding commitment to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed. OCED may engage in pre and post response conversations with interested parties. Contact the POC above to schedule a call.

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION:

Because information received in response to this RFI may be used to structure future programs and/or otherwise be made available to the public, respondents are strongly advised NOT to include any information in their responses that might be considered business sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise confidential.

If, however, a respondent chooses to submit business sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise confidential information, it must be clearly and conspicuously marked as such in the response as described below. Failure to comply with these marking requirements may result in the disclosure of the unmarked information under the Freedom of Information Act or otherwise. The U.S. Federal Government is not liable for the disclosure or use of unmarked information and may use or disclose such information for any purpose.

The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) in collaboration with the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) intends to issue Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) No. DE-FOA-0002936 titled “Industrial Decarbonization and Emissions Reduction Demonstration-to-Deployment Funding Opportunity Announcement.”

OCED anticipates funding high-impact, large-scale, transformational projects to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from high-emitting industrial subsectors to build confidence in the technical and commercial viability of emissions reduction technologies and integrated solutions. OCED will support cross-cutting industrial decarbonization approaches via energy efficiency; industrial electrification; low-carbon fuels, feedstocks, and energy sources; and carbon capture and utilization for emissions that are difficult to abate through other pathways. This approach aligns with but is not limited to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap.

This Notice of Intent (NOI) describes a preliminary plan that will evolve during the FOA development process.This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of OCED’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. OCED will not accept questions at this time regarding issuance of the potential FOA. Details on how to submit questions and comments will be provided in the FOA, when issued.

The United States (U.S). Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program (Section 40209).”

The mission of MESC is to strengthen and secure manufacturing and energy supply chains needed to modernize the nation’s energy infrastructure and support a clean and equitable energy transition.

The anticipated FOA will support the Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program, as established by Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Section 40209. DOE anticipates that the FOA will award financial assistance in the form of cooperative agreements or grants to small- and medium-sized manufacturering firms to establish new facilities or to re-equip or expand existing facilities to manufacture or recycle advanced energy property in energy communities. The anticipated FOA will provide approximately $350 million in awards with a focus on projects with high supply chain impacts and strong community benefits plans.

This Notice of Intent (NOI) is issued so that interested parties are award of MESC's intention to issue a FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this NOI is subject to change. DOE is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of, or respond to, any submitted question/comment submitted under this NOI. Questions/comments received under this NOI are subject to public release pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. See attached NOI document for further details

ATTENTION: 2/28/2023 - This Funding Opportunity Announcement has been modified. Please see the "Full Funding Opportunity Announcement - Mod 000005" document in the Announcement Documents section below for full details.

FOA Summary:

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is releasing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit emerging Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) demonstration projects capable of delivering electricity for 10-24 hours or longer to support a low-cost, reliable, carbon-free electric grid. This $349 million effort seeks LDES demonstration projects that will validate new technologies, enhance the capabilities of customers and communities to integrate LDES more effectively, and sustain American global leadership in energy storage.

LDES demonstration projects are encouraged to have substantial engagement with local and regional stakeholders to ensure that they generate local, regional, and national benefits. Demonstration projects will be expected to carry out meaningful community and labor engagement; invest in America’s workforce by creating good-paying jobs with the free and fair choice to join a union; advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and contribute to the President’s Justice40 Initiative goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments, including those in climate change, clean energy and energy efficiency, flow to disadvantaged communities.

For further information, please see the "Full Funding Opportunity Announcement - Mod 000005" document in the Announcement Documents section below.

Attention: The eXCHANGE system is currently designed to enforce hard deadlines for Concept Paper and Full Application submissions. The APPLY and SUBMIT buttons automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. The intention of this design is to consistently enforce a standard deadline for all applicants.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the FOA Deadline: In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (OCED-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov).

ATTENTION: 2/28/2023 - This Funding Opportunity Announcement has been modified. Please see the "Full Funding Opportunity Announcement - Mod 000005" document in the Announcement Documents section below for full details.

Accelerating innovative demonstrations of Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) technologies is a key priority for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to achieve the Biden-Harris Administration goals to decarbonize the electric grid by 2035 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. LDES is a key enabler of these goals as cheaper, 10+ hour storage is necessary to capture, store, and dispatch electricity that will increasingly be generated by renewable energy resources and ensure that the grid is reliable, clean, and affordable. Therefore, DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations is providing up to $30 million for LDES demonstration projects at the National Labs. This Lab Call has two topics, each of which focus on one of two distinct objectives:

Topic 1: Testing and Validation of Early Stage LDES Systems and Topic 2: Installation of LDES for Resiliency.

These projects will demonstrate the resiliency advantages of LDES technologies in the lab (*or “in laboratory conditions”) at a range of scales. Projects will help accelerate the commercial viability of innovative, state-of-the-art technologies and effectively demonstrate their benefits to facilitate wider commercial adoption for stakeholders that have similar energy goals for their facilities or campuses. By advancing the viability of LDES technologies, these projects may also enable delivering benefits to communities—especially underserved and overburdened communities—such as reducing energy burden, increasing clean energy access and adoption, resilience, and energy democracy.

Letters of Intent are due 11/2/2022 by 5:00 pm ET. Submissions should be made by email per the instructions in the Lab Call Announcement document. Submissions should NOT be made directly to OCED Exchange.

Scoping Studies are due 3/8/2023 by 5:00 pm ET. Submissions must be made via OCED Exchange.

To help connect interested parties with the national labs we are creating a Partnering List. Please fill out the requested information in the Partnering List Template, which can be found below in the Documents section of this announcement, and send back to ESEELabCall@hq.doe.gov before 11/18/22.

Modification 0001:

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To help inform Department of Energy's (DOE) implementation of the Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) Program, this Request for Information (RFI) seeks input on:

Outcomes the program should seek to deliver for residents of rural or remote areas, and the types of innovative energy projects that achieve those outcomes and meet the authorization language; considerations that could impact programmatic design or strategy; community benefits, including energy and environmental justice (EEJ), diversity, equity inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) considerations; and quality jobs, and ways to broadly share knowledge gained and impacts.

Responses to this RFI will be used by DOE for planning purposes to develop the ERA Program, which may include the use of Technical Assistance, Prizes, Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs), Other Transactional Authorities (OTAs), or Partnership Intermediary Agreements (PIAs). The information collected will not be published.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to ERA@hq.doe.gov no later than 12:00pm (ET) on 12/05/2022. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) will not pay for information provided under this RFI and no project will be supported as a result of this RFI. This RFI is not accepting applications for financial assistance or financial incentives. OCED may or may not issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) based on consideration of the input received from this RFI.

Attention: 1/26/2023 - This Funding Opportunity Announcement has been modified. Please see Mod 000002 in the Announcement Documents section below for full details.

Summary of modifications to this FOA:

• The cover page of the Technical Volume (Section IV.D.ii and Appendix I) was updated to require that the applicant certify the domestic entity status of the proposed prime recipient and all subrecipient(s) in accordance with definitions in Section III.A.i of the FOA, and identify any entities that will require a foreign entity waiver.
• Section IV.A (Application Process) was updated to allow the Technical Volume cover page to be a font size of 10 point or larger.
• The “Example Cover Page for H2Hub Applications” template, available under the “Application Forms and Templates” section on the OCED Exchange website, was updated to collect the information described above.
• Section IV.D.v (Environmental Considerations Summary) was updated to allow the maps requested with the Environmental Considerations Summary to be submitted as separate files and be in larger engineering formats.
• Appendix G (Environmental Considerations Summary) was updated to remove the reference to GIS Shapefiles. While the maps may be created as a GIS Shapefile or other engineering formats, the maps must be saved and submitted as a PDF file.

FOA Summary:

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is releasing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to solicit Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) in accordance with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). This $8 billion effort will catalyze investment in the development of H2Hubs that demonstrate the production, processing, delivery, storage, and end-use of clean hydrogen, in support of the Biden Administration’s goal to achieve a carbon-free electric grid by 2035 and a net zero emissions economy by 2050.

The H2Hubs will form the foundation of a national clean hydrogen network that will contribute substantially to decarbonizing multiple sectors of the economy. Matching the scale-up of clean hydrogen production to a growing regional demand is a key pathway to achieving large-scale, commercially viable hydrogen ecosystems. H2Hubs will enable this pathway by demonstrating low-carbon intensity and economically viable hydrogen-based energy ecosystems that can replace existing carbon-intensive processes. This will accelerate the deployment of these technologies and enabling infrastructure, attract greater investments from the private sector, and promote substantial U.S. manufacturing of numerous hydrogen related technologies.

Each H2Hub will include multiple partners that will bring together diverse hydrogen technologies to produce and utilize large amounts of hydrogen in different ways. These clean hydrogen demonstrations will balance hydrogen supply and demand, connective infrastructure, and a plan for long-term financial viability. The H2Hubs will also include substantial engagement of local and regional stakeholders, as well as Tribes, to ensure that they generate local, regional, and national benefits. H2Hubs will be expected to carry out meaningful community and labor engagement; invest in America’s workforce by creating good-paying jobs with the free and fair choice to join a union; advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and contribute to the President’s Justice40 Initiative goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities.

DOE has defined a four-phase structure for the H2Hubs. Phase 1 will encompass initial planning and analysis activities to ensure that the overall H2Hub concept is technologically and financially viable, with input from relevant local stakeholders. Phase 2 will finalize engineering designs and business development, site access, labor agreements, permitting, offtake agreements, and community engagement activities necessary to begin installation, integration, and construction activities in Phase 3. Phase 4 will ramp-up the H2Hub to full operations including data collection to analyze the H2Hub’s operations, performance, and financial viability. This FOA will solicit plans for all four phases of proposed H2Hub activities; however, DOE will only initially authorize funding for Phase I. DOE’s review and evaluation of deliverables reflecting activities in each phase will inform Go/No-Go decisions that occur between or within Phases.

For this initial FOA launch, DOE envisions selecting six (6) to ten (10) H2Hubs for a combined total of up to $6-7 billion in federal funding. DOE may issue a second launch of this FOA to solicit additional H2Hubs beyond those selected in the initial launch. Other FOA launches or use of Other Transaction Authorities may also be used to solicit new technologies, capabilities, end-uses, or partners.

For further information, please see the "Full Funding Opportunity Announcement - Mod 000002" document in the Announcment Documents section below.

Attention: The eXCHANGE system is currently designed to enforce hard deadlines for Concept Paper and Full Application submissions. The APPLY and SUBMIT buttons automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. The intention of this design is to consistently enforce a standard deadline for all applicants.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the FOA Deadline: In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (OCED-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov).

Attention: 1/26/2023 - This Funding Opportunity Announcement has been modified. Please see Mod 000002 in the Announcement Documents section below for full details.

This Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will provide funding for up to twenty (20) Front End Engineering Design (FEED) studies for integrated Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), submission of permit applications, (i.e., underground injection control (UIC) Class VI permit to construct, if necessary) preparation of an Environment Information Volume and the initial Community Benefits Plan (CBP) work and analysis, which will address the first phase of an integrated CCS demonstration project.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Manufacturing & Energy Supply Chains (MESC), in collaboration with DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO).This RFI seeks public input to help inform DOE’s implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback on issues related to design and implementation of the Advanced Energy Manufacturing & Recycling Grant Program from small- and medium-sized manufacturers, including minority-owned firms; individuals and organizations involved in clean energy business planning, siting, operations, and management; academic experts; research laboratories; government agencies; Tribes; State and local officials; labor unions; economic development organizations; community-based organizations (CBOs); and other stakeholders.

To help inform DOE’s implementation of BIL Section 40209, this RFI seeks input on:

• Clean Energy Property Projects
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Projects
• Small- and Medium- sized Manufacturing Firms
• Project Finance and Commercial Viability
• Community and Labor Engagement
• Investing in the American Workforce
• Equity, Environmental, and Energy Justice

This RFI is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA); therefore, DOE is not accepting funding applications at this time. There is no guarantee that a FOA will be issued as a result of this RFI.

Please see the full RFI in the Documents section below.

Contact Information: 40209Program@hq.doe.gov

All responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically as email attachments to 40209Program@hq.doe.gov no later than 5:00PM (ET) on 09/16/2022 and include "40209 Grant Program RFI Response" in the subject line of the email. For complete submission requirements, please see the full RFI in the Documents section.

DOE conducted a webinar on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Section 40209 - Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program - Request for Information on August 16, 2022. The webinar slides are attached in the Documents section below. 

The Department of Energy Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) in collaboration with the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled "Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects Program (Section 41004(b))."

The mission of OCED is to deliver clean energy and industrial decarbonization demonstration projects at scale in partnership with the private sector, labor unions, other stake holders, and communities to launch or accelerate market adoption and deployment of technologies, as part of the an equitable transition to a decarbonized energy system and economy.  OCE was established in 2021 and first authorized and funded through the BIL. The founding of OCED builds upon DOE's expertise in clean energy research and development and expands DOE's mission to fill a critical gap on the path to net-zero emissions by 2050.

The FOA will address Section 41004(b) of the BIL, the FOA will require detailed information regarding how the applicant will incorporate environmental justice, community engagement and consent based siting, equity and workforce development, when developing Carbon Capture Demonstration projects tp support the Biden Administration's decarbonization goals of 50-52% reduction in greenhouse gases (CHGs) from 2005 levels emissions by 2030, a carbon pollution free power sector by 2035, and a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. Section 41004(b) requires that two integrated carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects are at new or existing, coal electric generation facilities, natural gas electric generation facilities, and industrial facilities not purposed for electric generation. Proposed projects must demonstrate at least 95% CO2 capture efficiency for power, industrial, and other commercial applications.

This is Notice of Intent (NOI) is issued so that interested parties are award of OCED's intention to issue a FOA in the near term.  All of the information contained in this NOI is subject to change.  See attached NOI document for further details.

Attention: This RFI has been updated. Please see 'DE-FOA-0002811_RFI_Mod_0001' in the Documents section below.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, in collaboration with the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) and the DOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM). This RFI seeks public input to help inform DOE’s implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).[1]

The BIL is a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure, which will grow a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable economy through enhancing U.S. competitiveness, creating good-paying union jobs, and ensuring stronger access to economic and other benefits for disadvantaged communities. Section 40342 of the BIL authorizes DOE to establish a program to demonstrate the technical and economic viability of clean energy projects on current and former mine land, to be carried out by developing between two (2) and five (5) clean energy projects on mine land in geographically diverse regions.[2] The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is appropriated $500 million for the five (5) year period encompassing fiscal years (FYs) 2022 through 2026 to carry out this program.[3]

To help inform DOE’s implementation of the Clean Energy Demonstration Program on Current and Former Mine Land (also referred to as “Mine Land Program”), this RFI seeks input on:

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from stakeholders, including the clean energy industry and its investors, the mining industry and landowners, federal and state regulatory agencies, state and local governments, labor unions, environmental justice organizations, Tribal officials, disadvantaged communities (DACs), community-based organizations, economic development organizations, conservation and environmental groups, and academic and other research institutions on issues related to the demonstration of clean energy projects on mine land. DOE is specifically interested in information on how demonstration programs can be implemented to stimulate private sector follow-on investments and deliver maximum benefits in terms of high-quality job creation, local and regional economic development, environmental justice and greenhouse gas emission reductions.

This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). DOE is not accepting applications. Information collected from this RFI may be used by DOE for planning purposes, which could include developing future Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) or other solicitations related to section 40342.

Request for Information Response Guidelines

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically as email to mineland@hq.doe.gov no later than 5:00 pm (ET) on 08/15/2022. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no more than 50 pages in length, 12-point font, 1-inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

For ease of replying and to aid categorization of your responses, please copy and paste the RFI questions, including the question numbering, and use them as a template for your response. Respondents may answer as many or as few questions as they wish.

OCED will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. A response to this RFI will not be viewed as a binding commitment to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed.

Respondents are requested to provide the following information at the start of their response to this RFI:

Attention: This RFI has been updated. Please see 'DE-FOA-0002811_RFI_Mod_0001' in the Documents section below.

[1] Public Law 117-58 (November 15, 2021).

[2] Public Law 117-58, Div. D, Title III, § 40342(b) and (c), Nov. 15, 2021.

[3] Public Law 117-58, Div. J, Title III.

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs” (H2Hubs) in collaboration with the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) and the DOE Hydrogen Program, which includes multiple offices engaged in hydrogen related technologies across DOE. OCED anticipates issuing the FOA in the September/October 2022 timeframe, and the FOA will be funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The specific provisions for regional clean hydrogen hubs are set forth in Section 40314 of the BIL, which amends Title VIII EPAct 2005 by adding a new “Section 813 – Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs.” Section 813(a) defines the term “regional clean hydrogen hub” as “a network of clean hydrogen producers, potential clean hydrogen consumers, and connective infrastructure located in close proximity.”

Investment in building out the hydrogen (H2) economy is a significant portion of the BIL funding at DOE. The BIL authorizes and appropriates $8.0 billion over the five-year period encompassing fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to support the development of at least four H2Hubs that:

• Demonstrably aid achievement of the clean hydrogen production standard developed under section 822(a) of Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005);
  
  
• Demonstrate the production, processing, delivery, storage, and end use of clean hydrogen; and
  
  
• Can be developed into a national clean hydrogen network to facilitate a clean hydrogen economy.

The FOA will incorporate a range of equity considerations including energy and environmental justice, labor and community engagement, consent-based siting, quality jobs, and inclusive workforce development to support the Biden Administration’s decarbonization goals of a 50-52% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2005 levels by 2030, a carbon-pollution-free power sector by 2035, and a net-zero GHG emissions economy by 2050. The H2Hubs will be a key part of the National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, also required in the BIL, and will be instrumental in meeting national decarbonization goals, including the development and deployment of clean hydrogen technologies.

This notice of intent (NOI) is issued so that interested parties are aware of OCED’s intention to issue a FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this NOI is subject to change. OCED will not respond to questions concerning this NOI. Once the FOA has been released, OCED will provide an avenue for potential applicants to submit questions.

See attached NOI document for further details.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hydrogen Program, on behalf of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), and in collaboration with DOE’s newly formed Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). The intent of this RFI is to obtain public input regarding the solicitation process and structure of a DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to fund regional clean hydrogen hubs, as required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

Specifically, this RFI seeks input on:

Information collected from this RFI will be used by DOE for planning purposes to develop the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs FOA. The information collected will not be published.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to H2Hubs@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on March 21, 2022, with subject line “H2Hubs RFI response.” Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) or Adobe PDF (.pdf) attachment to the email, and no more than 15 pages in length (plus any additional pages necessary to include the original questions), 12-point font, 1-inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted. For ease of replying and to aid categorization of your responses, please copy and paste the RFI questions, including the question numbering, and use them as a template for your response. Respondents may answer as many or as few questions as they wish.

Respondents are requested to provide the following information at the start of their response to this RFI:

DOE will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. A response to this RFI will not be viewed as a binding commitment to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed.

MODIFICATION 0001: Change the language around the page limit.

MODIFICATION 0002: Change the submission deadline to March 21, 2022, 5:00pm (ET).

The Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) is seeking information to better understand industrial priorities for decarbonization, including emerging technologies that could be demonstrated or adopted by the industrial sector. The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to research, development, demonstration, and deployment of technologies to address the technical challenges related to emissions reduction and decarbonization of the U.S. industrial sector. EERE is specifically interested in information on aspects of industrial decarbonization associated with key industrial sectors, including chemicals, iron and steel, food and beverages, and cement, in addition to other manufacturing industries or crosscutting technology areas that would have a substantial level of emissions reduction in the industrial sector. This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). EERE is not accepting applications.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to Industrial-Decarb-RFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00 pm (ET) on February 28, 2022. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no more than 9 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted, and respondents are encouraged to include their organization name at the beginning of their attachment filename.

DE-FOA-0002777 Request for Information (RFI) BIL Section 41001 Energy Storage Demonstration Projects

Subject: Long-Duration Energy Storage for Everyone, Everywhere (ESEE) RFI

Please see the full RFI document in the Documents section below.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to sec. 41001 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which appropriated $505 million “to advance energy storage systems toward widespread commercial deployment by lowering the costs and increasing the duration of energy storage resources.” The RFI lays out a proposed structure for three provisions within Sec. 41001 in line with a strategy for energy storage technology commercialization.

The intent of this RFI is to obtain public input regarding DOE’s proposed implementation possibilities of the energy storage demonstration programs and crosscutting issues related to the energy storage demonstration landscape:

Category 1: BIL 41001 Energy Storage Program-Specific Requirements and Implementation Strategy

Category1A: Long-Duration Demonstration Initiative

Category 1B: Energy Storage Demonstration Projects

Category 1C: Energy Storage Pilot Grant Program

Category 1D: Rapid Operational Validation Initiative (ROVI)

Category 2: BIL 41001 Energy Storage Program Crosscutting Topics

Category 2A: Storage Technology Opportunity Readiness Evaluation (STORE)

Category 2B: BIL Provision, Requirements, and Proposed Implementation

Category 3: Employment: Expanding Union Jobs and Effective Workforce Development

Category 4: Equity, Environmental and Energy Justice (EEEJ) Priorities

Category 5: Additional Input

This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). EERE is not accepting applications.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to EnergyStorage41001RFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on June 16, 2022, with subject line “BIL 41001 RFI response.” Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no more than 20 pages in length, 12 point font, 1-inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

Please see the full RFI document in the Documents section below.