OCED Funding Opportunities

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 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.