OCED Funding Opportunities

The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is issuing a solicitation titled “Pilot-scale Rapid Operational Validation of key Energy Infrastructure Technologies (PROVE IT)” under the OCED Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

This solicitation supports the validation of existing pilot projects or subsystems in a relevant industrial environment to:

1) increase their technology readiness to the point of being able to be integrated in a large clean energy infrastructure project and

2) increase their adoption readiness level to medium/high.

OCED will prioritize technologies and application use cases that exhibit technological diversity when compared to the existing OCED portfolio of demonstration projects or that have not already been demonstrated at a scale larger than the proposed project.

The PROVE IT solicitation will be issued as a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)-based request for proposals. OCED will award milestone-based, firm-fixed priced contracts under this solicitation.

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1/29/2025: Thank you for your interest in the informational webinar for the "Pilot-scale Rapid Operational Validation of key Energy Infrastructure Technologies (PROVE IT) / Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Solicitation # 89243625QCD000019". We are postponing this webinar until further notice. We will post the new date and the new registration link in OCED eXCHANGE and notify everyone registered for the webinar as soon as they become available.

The goal of the Program is to provide potential applicants with flexible and comprehensive pathways to spur the development of commercial DAC facilities, including DAC facilities at mid- to large-scale along with supporting infrastructure, and expand to Regional DAC Hubs. The Program seeks to realize the potential of the diverse DAC technologies that have achieved or are approaching commercial readiness, while addressing the most critical obstacles to their adoption and scaling.

TA-1 requires a pre-application. 

TA-2 and TA-3 requires submission of a concept paper. 

DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is issuing this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), in collaboration with the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), for integrated carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects that demonstrate substantial improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness, cost, and environmental performance of carbon capture technologies for power, industrial, and other commercial applications. The overarching goal of this NOFO is to unlock a wave of follow-on investment in low-carbon power and low-carbon industrial products by increasing the capital flow to sectors where it is already occurring and by expanding the CCUS market to additional power, industrial, and commercial applications. Awards made under this NOFO will be funded with funds appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

The BIL will invest up to $2.537 billion to fund domestic CCUS demonstration and commercial-scale projects that further the development, deployment, and commercialization of technologies to capture and geologically store CO2 emissions. In addition, the BIL has a total appropriation of $937 million for fiscal years (FY) 2022 through 2025 for large-scale pilot projects that accelerate the development, deployment, and commercialization of innovative and transformative carbon capture technologies.

This NOFO makes available up to $1,300,000,000 for approximately 10 projects at maximum Federal cost shares ranging from 50% to 80%, depending on the Topic Area and Phase of the project. The NOFO is divided into three Topic Areas based on the technology readiness level (TRL) and scope of the proposed project. DOE will select projects that seek to demonstrate the following, based on the chosen Topic Area:

• Topic Area 1 – The technical and commercial viability of established carbon capture technologies (TRL >7) in both new applications and at commercial scale.
• Topic Area 2 – First-of-a-kind transformational technologies (TRL 5–6) at the large pilot scale.
• Topic Area 3 – Region-specific carbon management networks with multiple emitters to reduce offtake uncertainty and increase emitter access to storage facilities.

For additional information about this pre-solicitation, refer to the entry in FedConnect: https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/default.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fFedConnect%2f%3fdoc%3d89243625RCD000006%26agency%3dDOE&doc=89243625RCD000006&agency=DOE

The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) intends to issue a solicitation titled “Pilot-scale Rapid Operational Validation of key Energy Infrastructure Technologies (PROVE IT)” in the first quarter of calendar year 2025. This solicitation will be issued under the OCED Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

The goal of this pre-solicitation is to support the validation of existing pilot projects or subsystems in a relevant industrial environment; to increase their technology readiness to the point of being ready to be integrated in a large clean energy infrastructure project; and to increase their adoption readiness level[1] to medium/high.

OCED will prioritize technologies and application use cases that exhibit technological diversity when compared to the existing OCED portfolio of demonstration projects[2] or that have not already been demonstrated at a scale larger than the proposed project.

The PROVE IT solicitation will be issued as a Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)-based[3] request for proposals. OCED anticipates awarding milestone-based firm-fixed priced contracts under this solicitation.

[1] https://www.energy.gov/technologytransitions/adoption-readiness-levels-arl-framework

[2] Information on the current OCED portfolio can be found here: https://www.energy.gov/oced/portfolio

[3] https://www.acquisition.gov/

This solicitation makes available approximately $900 million in federal funds for projects that will create a credible and sustainable pathway to fleet-level deployment of Gen III+ SMRs. Gen III+ SMRs can provide around-the-clock electricity or process heat to meet the increasing demand for clean, reliable, firm electricity generation or process heat required by U.S. industries.

In particular, SMRs offer the potential for modularity, factory construction, and scalability to meet demand. Additionally, Gen III+ SMRs may be able to revitalize and leverage the service and supply chain infrastructure supporting the existing fleet of light water reactor designs, thus providing a near-term path for new nuclear deployments. However, a demonstration project is critical to overcoming the first-of-a-kind commercial adoption challenges for Gen III+ SMR technology, including:

· Cost Reliability – Delivered cost of recent reactor projects, including cost-overruns and project non-completion, has constrained nuclear energy relative to competing baseload technologies, such as natural gas.

· Resource Maturity – Multiple factors have hindered adoption including:

o Capital Flow – Delays and non-completion of past nuclear projects has resulted in capital flow constraints, where the return of capital and return on capital are on time horizons that inhibit investors and significantly impact an owner’s credit rating.

o Project Development, Integration, and Management – There is no leading constructor for new nuclear projects and the lack of integrated project delivery models has constrained prior projects.

o Manufacturing and Supply Chain – The current domestic nuclear supply chain faces severe bottlenecks on long-lead procurements for major project components. This lack of resilience in capacity, capability, and cost competitiveness is forcing procurements overseas.

o Workforce – The limited number of nuclear-qualified workers, such as welders and plant operators, presents a challenge to scaling nuclear deployments.

Licensing Uncertainty – The risk of licensing new technologies, including the timeframe and cost associated with receiving NRC approval of new nuclear designs, drives hesitancy for potential adopters.

Funding applications will be selected based on the expectations and details described throughout this solicitation. Priority will be given to projects with (1) the highest probability of a successful deployment, (2) the greatest potential to develop a Gen III+ SMR orderbook, and (3) the greatest potential contribution to the resilience of the domestic nuclear industry.

Rural and remote areas often have higher energy costs and burden, less resilient energy systems, and fewer alternatives for accessing clean energy compared with their urban counterparts. Furthermore, small communities do not always have the available time, money, or other resources to pursue clean energy options.

This Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) funding opportunity provides support for rural and remote communities to build clean energy projects that benefit their communities.

The goals of the program are to:

1. Deliver measurable and sustained benefits to people who live in rural or remote areas by funding replicable clean energy projects that lower energy costs, improve energy access and resilience, increase economic opportunity, and/or reduce environmental harm.
2. Demonstrate effective rural or remote energy system approaches using climate-resilient technologies, business structures that promote economic resilience, accessible and appropriate financing mechanisms, and/or best practices in community leadership and engagement, and workforce development.
3. Build clean energy knowledge, experience, capacity, and self-reliance in rural and remote parts of America.

This program serves communities of 10,000 people or fewer. Applicants must propose projects that support at least one of these eligible activities:

A. Improving overall cost-effectiveness of energy generation, transmission, or distribution systems;

B. Siting or upgrading transmission and distribution lines;

C. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy generation in rural or remote areas;

D. Providing or modernizing electric generation facilities;

E. Developing microgrids; and

F. Increasing energy efficiency.

Applications may include any technology that meet the above eligible activities, as long as those technologies are commercially available.

Applicants must choose one of the four topic areas for their project’s application:

1. Open category
2. Dual use and co-location
3. Smaller-scale community-centered
4. Isolated microgrids & unelectrified buildings

NOTE: Applicants must submit a Concept Paper by 5:00 pm ET on February 27, 2025. Applicants must submit a concept paper by the specified due date and time to be eligible to submit an application. Applicants who do not submit a concept paper cannot apply. DOE will encourage a subset of applicants to submit applications and will discourage the other applicants from submitting an application.

The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) intends to issue a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) entitled “Point-Source Carbon Capture Large-Scale Pilots, Commercial Demonstrations, & Networked Demonstration Commercialization” in the last quarter of calendar year 2024. The goal of this NOFO is to support the design, stakeholder and community engagement, construction, and operation of point-source capture large-scale pilots and commercial scale demonstrations while also supporting the development of localized carbon management networks needed for commercial scale.

In the context of this NOFO, we define “localized carbon management networks” to be interconnected carbon management assets, including CO2 emitters, geologic storage sites, and pipeline transportation, contained in a subregional area we envision as approximately 50 radial miles from some central location.

The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) intends to issue a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) entitled “Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs – Recurring Program” in the fourth quarter of 2024. The goal of this NOFO, along with potential subsequent re-openings and related solicitations (collectively, “the Program”), is to support the commercialization of direct air capture (DAC) solutions and the development of four regional DAC hubs.

This Notice of Intent (NOI or Notice) describes a preliminary plan that will evolve during the Funding Opportunity development process.

DISCLAIMER: The “Notice of Intent to Issue” is for informational purposes only; the Department of Energy is not seeking comments on the information in this notice, and applications are not being accepted at this time. Any information contained in this notice is subject to change.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is issuing this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support technology demonstrations for energy storage solutions at the pilot-scale. The program will focus on non-lithium technologies, long-duration (10+ hour discharge) systems, and stationary storage applications.

This program seeks to:

• Advance a diverse set of non-lithium energy storage technologies towards commercial viability and utility-scale deployment.
• Generate high-quality operational datasets and techno-economic models.
• Build investor, utility, and other end user confidence in the real performance and adoptability of the proposed solutions.

This NOFO makes available approximately $100 million in Federal funds for demonstrations of diverse energy storage technologies, potentially including electrochemical, mechanical, and thermal energy storage systems. DOE intends to fund 5-15 projects with an award size of at least $5 million and no more than $20 million in Federal funds. Each award is required to provide a minimum of 50% non-Federal cost share.

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) intends to issue a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) entitled “Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas FY24”. The goals of this NOFO are to deliver measurable and sustained benefits to people who live in rural or remote areas; demonstrate rural or remote energy system approaches; and build clean energy knowledge, capacity, and self-reliance in rural and remote parts of America. OCED anticipates that funding will support materials, equipment, time, labor, and other resources to build clean energy projects in rural or remote communities and run other allowable activities (e.g., collaboration, outreach, and engagement with Tribes and stakeholders, or workforce development programs).

This Notice of Intent (NOI or Notice) describes a preliminary plan that will evolve during the Funding Opportunity development process.

DISCLAIMER: The “Notice of Intent to Issue” is for informational purposes only; the Department of Energy is not seeking comments on the information in this notice and applications are not being accepted at this time. Any information contained in this notice is subject to change.

DOE is compiling a Teaming Partner List to facilitate the formation of new project teams for Lab Call DE-LC-000L004 entitled “Inflation Reduction Act Technology Commercialization Fund: Collaborative Alignment for Critical Technology Industries Lab Call - Industrial Decarbonization."

As a lab call, only DOE national laboratories, plants, and sites are eligible prime applicants. Successful projects will involve partnerships with stakeholders across the Chemicals & Refining, Concrete and Cement, and Metals value chains with a focus on industrial decarbonization. The Teaming Partner List allows organizations who may wish to participate on an application to express their interest to other applicants and to explore potential partnerships.

Updates to the Teaming Partner List will be available in the OCED eXCHANGE website. The Teaming Partner List will be regularly updated to reflect new teaming partners who provide their organization’s information.

To review the full announcement, follow this link.

The Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Technology Transistions (OTT), in collaboration with the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), with support from the Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (IEDO), and the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), announced the Inflation Reduction Act - Technology Commercialization Fund (IRA TCF) Collaborative Alignment for Critical Technology Industries lab call to bring together stakeholders across industries to address challenges that result when people work on similar issues in isolation, inhibiting scale-up and replication. These lab-led working groups will collaboratively develop and begin to implement recommendations and best practices for resolving identified challenges.

OTT anticipates awarding up to $15 million in Fiscal Year 2024 IRA funding to projects led by DOE National Laboratories to accelerate commercialization in the Chemicals & Refining, Concrete and Cement, and Metals industries with a focus in industrial decarbonization.

Navigate to TPL-0000002 in eXCHANGE to access the Teaming Partner List for this solicitation.

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) intends to issue a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) entitled “Energy Storage Pilot Demonstrations”. The goal of this NOFO is to support pilot-scale demonstrations for non-lithium, long duration energy storage solutions that advance technical maturity, reduce uncertainty in cost and performance characteristics, generate operational datasets, and increase investor and end-user confidence in technical and commercial maturation pathways and timelines. OCED anticipates that funding will support technology maturation activities including design for manufacturability, pilot system development, fabrication and installation, operational testing and validation, and commercial scale system design and supply chain maturation.

This Notice of Intent (NOI or Notice) describes a preliminary plan that will evolve during the Funding Opportunity development process.

DISCLAIMER: The “Notice of Intent to Issue” is for informational purposes only; the Department of Energy is not seeking comments on the information in this notice and applications are not being accepted at this time. Any information contained in this notice is subject to change.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) in collaboration with the Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) intends to issue a solicitation entitled “Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor Pathway to Deployment Program”. This Notice of Intent (NOI) describes a preliminary plan that will evolve during the solicitation development process.

The primary objective of this program is to focus DOE and non-federal resources on a credible and sustainable pathway to fleet-level deployment of Generation (Gen) III+ small modular reactors (SMR). To spur the necessary industry-wide momentum, DOE intends to offer funding for projects under this solicitation through two tiers:

• Tier 1 will provide up to $800M to support up to two first-mover teams of utility, reactor vendor, constructor, and end-users/off-takers committed to deploying a first plant while facilitating a multi-reactor, Gen III+ SMR orderbook.
• Tier 2 will provide up to $100M to spur additional Gen III+ SMR deployments by addressing key gaps that have hindered the domestic nuclear industry in areas such as design, licensing, supplier development, and site preparation.

This is a lab call issued by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). The attached FY25 OCED Analysis Lab Call begins to lay the foundation for longer term activities at the national laboratories tied to OCED's growing project portfolio and long term strategy.

Feedback and questions should be submitted via email to OCEDAnalysisLabCall@hq.doe.gov.

NOTE: If you are a foreign national planning to attend the formal feedback sessions in July 2024, please send an email to OCEDAnalysisLabCall@hq.doe.gov at your earliest convenience. All foreign nationals must have advanced approval by DOE prior to participating in the formal feedback sessions in-person or virtually. Foreign nationals will not be able to participate unless they seek approval well in advance.

ATTENTION (10/24/2023): This Funding Opportunity Announcement has been modified and the Submission Deadline has been extended to 6:00 pm EST on 11/2/2023. Please see the full Funding Opportunity Announcement - Mod 000001 in the Announcement Documents section for full details.

DOE is exploring entering into one or multiple agreements with independent, not-for-profit U.S. entities to assist in the de-risking of clean hydrogen through demand certainty or other means. DOE envisions that these measures would accelerate commercialization of clean hydrogen by providing medium-term revenue certainty to projects affiliated with DOE-selected Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs.

Demand-side support measures represent a potential tool to achieve DOE’s authorization to accelerate commercialization of, and demonstrate the production, processing, delivery, storage, and end-use of, clean hydrogen by providing predictability in the commercial market for early deployments. Demand-side support measures have accelerated commercial scale-up of technologies in clean energy and for other critical products and services, both in the United States and abroad.

These measures address a basic issue in scaling up clean energy technology—deployment drives cost reductions, but early deployment depends on demonstrated demand, which is hard to secure while costs are still high, and markets are still nascent. Demand-side measures also address a fundamental mismatch in some markets between producers, who need long-term certainty of high-volume demand in order to secure financing to build a project, and buyers, who often prefer to buy on a short-term basis at more modest volumes, especially for products that have yet to be produced at scale and expected to see cost decreases, like clean hydrogen.

DOE is interested in selecting one or more independent (i.e., non-government), U.S.-based, not-for-profit entities to support and execute clean hydrogen demand-side support mechanisms. Respondents to this solicitation may represent an existing or to-be-established entity, as long as the proposed entity would be formally established ahead of the Design Phase activities described below.

The selected entity or entities would execute demand-side programs and other support measures designed and funded, in part, by DOE to create demand certainty for clean hydrogen projects and facilitate market formation. The selected entity or entities could be a single national entity, several regional entities, or several entities responsible for different phases (design vs. execution).

Potential activities for an independent not-for-profit U.S. entity include, but are not limited to:

• Applying experience in commodity markets, project finance, and commercial contracting to advise DOE on the design of demand-side measures to support projects affiliated with DOE’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs;
• Executing a DOE-designed and funded demand-side mechanism to support projects affiliated with DOE’s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, including accepting and distributing DOE funds to selected projects;
• Implementing a competitive process designed by DOE for selection of projects or companies for demand-side support;
• Executing and managing financial agreements with selected recipients of demand-side support; and
• Engaging with clean energy developers, investors, Government partners, academic institutions, community groups, labor, non-traditional partners, and other stakeholders to inform and support DOE demand-side activities to support commercial liftoff for clean hydrogen.

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Distributed Energy Systems Demonstrations Funding Opportunity Announcement”. The goal of this new investment area is to support demonstrations that de-risk technologies needed to manage variable generation; control flexible loads; and integrate energy storage, electric vehicle (EV) charging, and other facilities into the U.S. transmission and distribution grids.

OCED anticipates funding commercial-scale projects that demonstrate approaches that integrate grid-edge renewable and distributed energy systems with broader energy networks. These projects will seek to demonstrate reliable operations and system-wide value in the context of distribution grids with high levels of variable renewable generation and flexible load assets.

This Notice of Intent (NOI or Notice) describes a preliminary plan that will evolve during the FOA development process.

DISCLAIMER: The “Notice of Intent to Issue” is for informational purposes only; the Department of Energy is not seeking comments on the information in this notice and applications are not being accepted at this time. Any information contained in this notice is subject to change.

DISCLAIMER: The “Notice of Intent to Issue” is for informational purposes only; the Department of Energy is not accepting any applications at this time. Any information contained in this notice is subject to change.

This is a Notice of Intent to issue:

Broad Agency Announcement

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Additional Clean Hydrogen Programs (Section 40314): Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is considering establishing a Demand-side Support Mechanism to support reliable demand for hydrogen at DOE-supported Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs).

As part of this process, DOE intends to issue a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) entitled “Implementing Entity (or Entities) for Demand-side Support Mechanism for Clean Hydrogen Hub Projects”. OCED anticipates issuing the BAA in the summer or early fall timeframe.

The BAA will seek an independent Implementing Entity (or Entities) to implement a DOE-designed and DOE-funded demand-side support mechanism to support the development of the H2Hubs. DOE will commit up to $1 billion to the mechanism.

The demand-side support mechanism will provide multi-year support for clean hydrogen produced by competitively selected projects affiliated with H2Hubs. It will facilitate bankable clean hydrogen demand from a diverse set of offtakers. It will help diverse entities leverage the full potential of clean hydrogen, including non-profits, local government, and Tribes, and facilitate the use of clean hydrogen across various sectors of the economy, such as in industrial processes, manufacturing and heavy-duty transportation.

The mechanism could include one or more design factors such as pay-for-delivery contracts, offtake backstops, feasibility funding to support analysis by offtakers, or other measures that strengthen demand for clean hydrogen and increase revenue certainty for H2Hubs. The mechanism will enable private sector financing and expedite progress to Final Investment Decision for H2Hubs.

Based on demonstrated performance and experience gained with the H2Hubs Demand-Side Support Mechanism, DOE may consider similar mechanisms for other technologies and clean energy products in the future.

Tools that mitigate market risk for clean energy technologies during scale-up could meaningfully accelerate commercialization of these technologies, especially in clean hydrogen. DOE’s Pathways to Commercial Liftoff Report and National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap for clean hydrogen both highlighted the lack of long-term offtake as a critical barrier to the near-term expansion of the clean hydrogen economy.

A recent DOE Request for Information on the use of demand-side support measures in supporting clean energy technologies emphasized these issues, with respondents highlighting the benefits of well-designed measures that can tackle revenue certainty issues that arise as a result of the natural imbalance between supply scale-up and demand formation in emergent clean energy markets. This initiative underscores DOE’s commitment to addressing barriers to commercialization identified in the Liftoff Reports.

DOE has determined a demand-side support mechanism can facilitate achievement of statutory goals to accelerate the commercialization of clean hydrogen and facilitate a clean hydrogen economy while fostering the development of robust private sector demand for clean hydrogen products. Public input is needed to ensure DOE is aware of and considering a broad set of program design factors consistent with statutory authority. DOE will also consider a broader set of potential options to deliver this support (e.g., funding to the H2Hubs for this work or potential blended capital options).

Questions for stakeholder feedback:

To help inform the design of a demand-side support mechanism for the Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program, DOE is seeking public input on potential benefits and risks, operating models, governance structures, and equipped implementing partners. These questions build on DOE’s Request for Information of Use of Demand-Side Support for Clean Energy Technologies but are specifically focused on support for Hydrogen Hub projects.

Responses are due no later than 5:00 pm ET on July 24, 2023 and can be submitted to Demand-Side-RFI-NOI@hq.doe.gov. All responses must be sent either as a Microsoft Word (.doc / .docx) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) attachments.

Category A: Most effective demand-side support measure to support H2Hubs

1. What is the most effective way DOE could catalyze durable, bankable demand for clean hydrogen at DOE-funded H2 Hubs? Which of the following potential mechanisms would be most impactful?

1. Pay-for-difference contracts that provide support to projects based on the price they can achieve in the market
2. Fixed level of support for projects (e.g., fixed $/kg amount) that stacks on top of other sources of revenue
3. Funding to support feasibility analysis from potential offtakers near H2Hubs
4. “Market-maker” for clean hydrogen to provide a ready purchaser/seller for clean hydrogen
5. Other (please specify)

2. For eligible projects, what competitive process should be used to select projects that will receive demand-side support?

1. Reverse auction in which projects compete to bid the lowest level of support they need to make their project viable
2. Request for proposal-like process in which projects apply and are selected based on a variety of factors
3. Eligibility-based process in which all projects that meet certain threshold requirements receive some form of support
4. Other (please specify)

3. How can DOE design demand-side support to account for other kinds of support that H2Hubs projects may receive (e.g., tax credits, state and local government incentives, DOE cooperative agreement funding)?

4. How can DOE stucture demand-side support for H2Hubs to best catalyze the formation of a mature commodity market for clean hdyrogen?

1. How can DOE structure demand-side support for H2Hubs to best catalyze the development of standard contract terms for clean hydrogen?
2. How can DOE structure demand-side support for H2Hubs to best catalyze the development of price transparency for clean hydrogen? 

​

Category B: Implementation of demand-side support measures

1. If DOE were to establish a demand-side support mechanism for H2Hubs with an independent implementing entity or entities, what capabilities and qualifications should DOE prioritize when selecting an entity or entities? Should DOE seek a single entity with national scope or several entities with regional scopes?

2. For any or all of the program design factors selected in response Category A, what existing entities could administer and oversee the demand-side support mechanism? If no existing entity currently exists with the necessary capacity or expertise, how long would it take to establish such an entity or entities? What are the necessary areas of expertise for DOE to prioritize in selecting an independent entity?

3. What are the risks to DOE in partnering with an independent entity to administer a demand-side support mechanism? What governance structures and guardrails should DOE consider in designing a demand-side support mechanism to help maximize impact and minimize implementation risk? Are there any models DOE should look to in establishing a governance structure?

PROPRIETARY INFORMATION:

Because information received in response to this NOI 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. Government is not liable for the disclosure or use of unmarked information and may use or disclose such information for any purpose.

If your response contains confidential, proprietary, or privileged information, you must include a cover sheet marked as follows identifying the specific pages containing confidential, proprietary, or privileged information:

Notice of Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data:

Pages [list applicable pages] of this response may contain confidential, proprietary, or privileged information that is exempt from public disclosure. Such information shall be used or disclosed only for the purposes described in this NOI OCED-NOI . The Government may use or disclose any information that is not appropriately marked or otherwise restricted, regardless of source.

In addition, (1) the header and footer of every page that contains confidential, proprietary, or privileged information must be marked as follows: “Contains Confidential, Proprietary, or Privileged Information Exempt from Public Disclosure” and (2) every line and paragraph containing proprietary, privileged, or trade secret information must be clearly marked with [[double brackets]] or highlighting.

EVALUATION AND ADMINISTRATION BY FEDERAL AND NON-FEDERAL PERSONNEL:

Federal employees are subject to the non-disclosure requirements of a criminal statute, the Trade Secrets Act, 18 USC 1905. The Government may seek the advice of qualified non-Federal personnel. The Government may also use non-Federal personnel to conduct routine, nondiscretionary administrative activities. The respondents, by submitting their response, consent to the Office providing their response to non-Federal parties. Non-Federal parties given access to responses must be subject to an appropriate obligation of confidentiality prior to being given the access. Submissions may be reviewed by support contractors and private consultants.

RESPONSE GUIDELINES:

Responses to this NOI must be submitted electronically to Demand-Side-RFI-NOI@hq.doe.gov with the subject line “OCED-NOI-23-1” no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET) on July 24, 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 10 pages in length, 12-point font, 1-inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

A response to this NOI 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.

DOE requests respondents provide the following information at the start of their response to this NOI:

• Company/institution name

• Company/institution contact

• Contact's address, phone number, and e-mail address.

DE-FOA-0003045

Any individual or organization that would like to be included on this list should submit the following required information (unless noted as optional): Organization’s Name (if an organization), Organization Type (if an organization), Organization or Individual’s Webpage (required to provide if one exists), Contact Name, Contact Address (include country; street number and name, and unit or suite number are optional), Contact Email, Contact Phone (include country and area code), Area(s) of Technical Expertise, Brief Description of Capability(ies), Description of Need in a Partner(s).

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 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

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.

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.

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.