Funding Opportunity Announcements

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies (VT) Program, is seeking applications that will lead to computational modeling advances and development of lightweight alloys for lightweighting and propulsion applications. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) includes three (3) Areas of Interest; Area of Interest 3 includes two (2) subtopics. Areas of Interest are indentified below:

Area of Interest 1:  Predictive Engineering Tools for Injection Molded Long Carbon Fiber Thermoplastic Composites

Area of Interest 2:  Integrated Computation Materials Engineering (ICME) Development of Advanced Steel for Lightweight Vehicles

Area of Interest 3:  Advanced Alloy Development for Automotive and Heavy-Duty Engines

3a) Lightweight Cast Alloy Development for Light Duty Automotive Engine Applications

3b) High Strength Cast Alloy Development for Heavy-Duty On-Road Engine Applications

NOTE: The FOA has been updated to incorporate Amendment 001 Amendment 002, Amendment 003, discussed below:

Amendment 001 to this FOA was processed on 04/13/2012. The FOA was revised to include an additional criterion under the Project Approach for Area of Interest 1, Area of Interest 2, and Area of Interest 3, respectively. See Section V, Part A. 2. Merit Review Criteria.

Amendment 002 to this FOA was processed on 04/23/2012. The FOA was revised to remove the section entitled "Subrecipient Effort" contained in Part III, Section C, Other Eligibility Requirements.

Amendment 003 to the FOA was processed on 05/04/2012. The FOA was revised to further define, clarify, and update specific clauses in the FOA. 

The full Funding Opportunity Announcement is posted on the EERE eXCHANGE website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.  Applications must be submitted through the EERE eXCHANGE website to be considered for award.  The applicant must first register and create an account on the EERE eXCHANGE website.  A User Guide can be found at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx after logging in to the system. 

Through the Plug and Play Photovoltaics Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the Department of Energy will invest up to $25 million over five years to advance the development of a commercial plug-and-play photovoltaic system, which is envisioned as an off-the-shelf product that is fully inclusive with little need for individual customization. Homeowners can install the system without special training or tools. The homeowner simply plugs the system into a PV-ready circuit and an automatic PV discovery process initiates communication between the system and the utility.

The plug-and-play concept has been implemented very successfully in the computer and automotive industries. The Department of Energy believes that these same innovations can be applied to the PV industry to reduce costs and simplify installations. This funding opportunity seeks to fundamentally change the design and installation of residential PV systems and help automate utility interconnection and permitting processes.

Universities, industry, utilities, local authorities having jurisdiction, national laboratories, and other stakeholders are encouraged to submit letters of intent by May 16, 2012 and full applications by June 18, 2012. For more information, download the full text of the FOA below.

The U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, on behalf of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Office of Vehicle Technologies Program, is seeking applications for grants up to $10 million DOE funding to accelerate the introduction and penetration of electric transportation technology into the cargo transport sector.

DOE anticipate up to 2 awards in Fiscal Year 2012, with the potential for additional selections in Fiscal Year 2013 if additional funding is recommended through the appropriations process.

Eligibility is restricted to local governments, ports, metropolitan transportation authorities, air pollution control districts, or combinations thereof operating in and/or governing either the Los Angeles South Coast Air basin (8-hour ozone) nonattainment area or the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria nonattainment area.

A minimum of 50% cost share is required.

Amendment 001 to DE-FOA-0000669 was issued on 05/01/2012; see FOA DOCUMENTS below.

The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants advance notice of a proposed upcoming FOA initially titled “In-Water Wave Energy Conversion (WEC) Device Testing Support.”  NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE.  Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA.  It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange in FY12.  Please do not respond or submit questions in response to this Notice of Intent.

On behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the Wind and Water Power Program (WWPP) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement titled “In-Water Wave Energy Conversion (WEC) Device Testing Support.”

DOE intends to fund one industry-led project that will deploy a long-term (one year) in-water WEC device.  The device will be deployed at the Navy Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) facility in Kaneohe Bay on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. 

The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Power Program (WWPP), is issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “In-Water Wave Energy Conversion (WEC) Device Testing Support.”

The DOE is working closely with The Department of Navy (Navy) to support and promote wave energy technologies. This FOA will support the testing of one WEC device at the Navy’s existing 30m Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) located at Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Only WEC buoy (point-absorber) device types are being considered for funding at this time.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is seeking applications that address and assist in reducing multiple barriers to alternative fuel vehicle adoption and use.  Overall, this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), issued on behalf of EERE by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), aims to decrease the nation’s dependence on petroleum and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating the deployment of alternative fuels.  Efforts should focus only on the alternative fuels defined by the Energy Policy Act of 1992, as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and further augmented by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. 

The expanded use of alternative fuel vehicles and domestically produced alternative transportation fuels can create and retain jobs, stimulate and support domestic economies, and help protect the environment. The Clean Cities program has identified the following four critical areas that provide significant obstacles to alternative fuel vehicle use: 1) Policies, 2) Barrier Reduction, 3) Safety and Training, and 4) Market Development/Outreach.  The U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities program wishes to fund projects that target and remedy these specific obstacles to alternative fuel vehicle adoption and use in local, regional and/or statewide sectors and niche markets. 

This FOA marks the first time that the Department of Energy (DOE) has issued three Phase I solicitations in a single year.  This “Release 3” is intended to give small businesses more topics and more opportunities to apply for SBIR/STTR Phase I grants in a given year.  It includes 8 broad topics and 30 subtopics aligned with EERE programs (see below).  Detailed application instructions, including eligibility requirements, can be found on DOE’s SBIR Funding opportunities website under Reference Number DE-FOA-0000715.

EERE leads the Federal government’s research and development (R&D) efforts in energy efficiency and renewable energy. It invests in clean energy R&D designed to reduce the cost of technologies that enable the efficient use of energy and/or the generation of renewable energy. EERE’s SBIR/STTR efforts are part of an integrated portfolio that will lead to economic and environmental benefits. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) EERE program is interested in receiving proposals for research and development projects that offer potential for achieving EERE technology cost and performance targets.  This FOA seeks Applications to select and fund SBIR Phase I research and development (R&D) projects in the follow topics and subtopics:

1. Advanced Manufacturing:  a. Manufacturing Process  b. Advanced Materials

2. Biomass: a. Cellulosic and Algal Biofuels b. Biobased Products

3. Buildings: a. Solid State Lighting (SSL) Devices and Packages;

b. Cold Climate Air Source Heat Pumps

c. High COP Electric Water Heaters

d. GSHP Ground Loop Cost Reduction

e. Fast Payback Solar Hot Water 

f. Building Envelope Materials

g. Building Controls and

h. Commercial Building Power Meters

4. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies a. Transportation Fuel Cells b. Hydrogen Storage

5. Solar: a. PV module b. Power Electronics & Balance of System (Hardware)

c. Balance of System (Non-Hardware) and

d. Concentrating Solar Power

6. Vehicles: a. Electric Drive Vehicle Batteries; b. Exhaust Aftertreatment Materials

c. Innovative Engine Boosting Technologies

d. Differential Compression and Expansion Technologies

e. Subsystem Component Technologies

f. Thermoelectric Technologies

g. Materials for Traction Drive Motor Laminations, Cores, or Structures and

h. Engine Friction Reduction

7. Water: a. Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy b. Hydropower Applications

8. Wind: a. Logistics for Land-Based Wind Power

The Department of Energy’s (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is seeking applications that support the Vehicles Technology Program’s (VTP) general goal to develop technologies that enable cars and trucks to become highly efficient through affordable and improved drivetrain, lightweighting technologies, and cleaner domestic fuels. Specific goals of the VTP Hybrid and Electric Systems Team include enabling the use of advanced electric drive technologies in vehicle systems by developing low-cost batteries, advanced power electronics and electric motor components, and the development and validation of models and simulation tools to predict the performance, fuel economy, and emissions of advanced conventional and electric-drive vehicle systems.

The energy storage goals will be accomplished through the funding of research and development (R&D) ranging from focused, long-term research to more applied R&D.  Most of the longer term research will be done in universities and the national laboratories, but much of the more applied work will be done within the domestic battery industry.  In order to ensure that this R&D is relevant and responsive to the needs of the manufacturers of electric drive vehicles VTP believes that it is important to be able to work with and through a consortium that brings together a significant fraction of the major manufacturers of electric drive vehicles in the US.  One of the goals of this consortium would be to engage the battery manufacturers and other key stakeholders, such as universities, National Laboratories, and manufacturers and developers that supply critical materials and components to the battery industry. The research and development to be carried out under this Funding Opportunity Announcements will be an integral part of the DOE’s effort to develop advanced transportation technologies that will significantly reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, specifically by supporting R&D in the energy storage area for vehicles using electric drive components, including hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs).

The full Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is posted on the EERE eXCHANGE website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. Applications must be submitted through the EERE eXCHANGE website to be considered for award. The applicant must first register and create an account on the EERE eXCHANGE website. A User Guide for the EERE eXCHANGE can be found on the EERE website https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx after logging in to the system.

Information on where to submit questions regarding the content of the announcement and where to submit questions regarding submission of applications is found in the full FOA posted on the EERE Exchange website.

Through the Solar Energy Evolution and Diffusion Studies (SEEDS) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the Department of Energy will invest up to $9 million over three years to support research on solar energy innovation dynamics and technology adoption patterns. SEEDS supports the development of a diversity of analytical, numerical, and conceptual tools and methods; implementation of pilot test strategies for modifying current business and policy practices; and assessment of pilot tests outcomes for impact and scalability. Through SEEDS, the Department of Energy seeks to launch a series of systematic investigations that will result in viable methods for dramatically transforming the operations of solar researchers, manufacturers, developers, installers, and policymakers. Selected research efforts will be performed in tandem with industry partners to ensure that results can be applied, tested, and modified in real time.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. Responses to the RFI will be treated as informational only and will not be viewed as a binding commitment for the respondent to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed. DOE MAY decide at a later date to issue a FOA based on consideration of the input received from this RFI, but there is no guarantee that future funding opportunities or other activities will be undertaken as a result of this RFI.

DOE invites input from the public regarding currently lacking data and technologies for characterization of marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) and offshore wind energy resources in support of deployment of wind and MHK technologies. For MHK power, comments regarding the advancement of wave and tidal resource characterization and data gathering for characterization of far-field hydrological and wave environment interactions with MHK energy devices are specifically requested. For wind power, comments regarding research and observation activities and partnerships for offshore wind energy resource characterization to complement, augment, or expand upon ongoing and planned offshore wind meteorological and oceanographic (metocean) data activities are specifically requested.

The sole purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gain input from industry, academia, local, state and federal government agencies, and other offshore wind and marine and hydrokinetic power stakeholders.  The information gathered with this RFI will be used to help inform future strategic considerations and will inform the Wind and Water Power Program’s research and development portfolio with regards to offshore wind and marine and hydrokinetic resource characterization efforts. This does not constitute a request for specific project proposals.  DOE will not pay for information provided under this RFI and there is no guarantee that future funding opportunities or other activities will be undertaken as a result of this RFI.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in Microsoft Word or PDF format to Resource.Characterization@go.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on October 1, 2012.  Responses should include:  cover page, 1 page executive summary, and up to a 5 page full response. 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot Initiative aims to make subsidy-free solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of energy by the end of the decade. SunShot drives American innovation in manufacturing, engineering, and business through a series of programs designed to spark and promote market solutions to solar energy development and clean energy growth.

The global average wholesale price for photovoltaic (PV) modules fell from $4.10 per watt (W) in 2007 to $2.40/W in 2010. The average spot price of solar modules has continued to fall and is below $1/W in 2012, while the capacity-weighted average of behind-the-meter U.S. PV system prices declined from $7.90/W to $6.20/W over the same period. Despite unprecedented cost reductions for solar hardware over recent years, the total price to install and commission residential and small-commercial scale solar energy systems remains high. Designing and implementing practices that enable dramatic reductions in the associated non-hardware costs — deemed the "soft costs" — of solar is now the greatest challenge to achieving national targets for attaining cost-competitive solar by 2020.  The SunShot Prize will motivate a new class of solar innovators, directing their efforts at solving the soft cost challenge.

The $10 million SunShot Prize challenges the ingenuity of America’s businesses and communities to make it faster, easier, and cheaper to install rooftop solar energy systems. Successful competitors will deploy domestically and in two phases, at least 6,000 new rooftop photovoltaic installations at an average pre-subsidy non-hardware cost of $1 per watt.  Winners will break this significant price barrier, considered to be unachievable a decade ago, and prove that they can repeatedly achieve a $1 per watt non-hardware cost using innovative, verifiable processes and business practices. 

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) seeks information from the public on the design and implementation of a potential multi-stakeholder solar designation program, and to investigate the possible effectiveness of such a program to incentivize positive changes that eliminate market inefficiencies, lower costs, and increase solar deployment. DOE is looking for general feedback from all relevant stakeholders and from specific categories of stakeholders, as identified in this RFI.    Please note that this RFI is not intended to gather information regarding the development of a designation program for solar hardware products (e.g., photovoltaic modules, racking systems), but rather is meant to investigate a possible designation for communities, installers, property owners, businesses, financial institutions, and utilities.

The full Request for Information (RFI) is posted on the EERE Exchange website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.  

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. DOE 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. DOE may or may not issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) based on consideration of the input received from this RFI.

Information on where to submit questions regarding the content of this RFI and where to submit questions regarding submission of responses can be found in the full RFI posted on the EERE Exchange website.

All responses to this RFI must be delivered electronically in Microsoft Word or PDF format as an attachment in an email sent to: SolarDesignation@go.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on January 4, 2013.  Emails should have the subject line “Solar Designation RFI Response”.

THIS RFI IS NOT A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA); THEREFORE, DOE IS NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. DOE 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. DOE may or may not issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) based on consideration of the input received from this RFI.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking comments and information from interested parties to assist DOE in understanding practices and policies to reduce the non-hardware balance of system costs (“soft costs”) of utility-scale solar installations and to empower solar developers and industry to increase development of utility scale-solar installations. Soft costs may be reduced through increased access to information and strategies about utility-based solar program design, siting, permitting, and strategies for environmental mitigation on public lands. This request for information (RFI) asks interested parties, including industry, consumer groups, and state and local governments to report on:

·         Efforts to streamline permitting processes and enhance environmental monitoring and mitigation;

·         Which policies and practices should guide policymakers in facilitating solar development, while also best protecting cultural, environmental, and other natural resources; and

·         How to collect and/or disseminate data for solar stakeholders to determine where development is best suited.

This RFI does not seek comments on policies and practices specific to utility-scale transmission, transmission siting, or energy distribution. DOE recognizes the interdependency between electric transmission and solar energy generation; however, the scope of this RFI is directed towards utility-scale solar installations as it pertains to business models and best practices for development on federal public lands.

Although the DOE may determine as the result of this RFI to issue a formal Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), there is no guarantee that future funding opportunities or other activities will be undertaken as a result of this RFI.

Information on where to submit questions regarding the content of the announcement and where to submit questions regarding submission of responses can be found in the full RFI posted on the EERE Exchange website.

All responses to this RFI must be delivered electronically in Microsoft Word or PDF format as an attachment in an email sent to: UtilityScaleSolarRFI@go.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on January 15, 2013.  Emails should have the subject line “Solar Technologies RFI: Utility-Scale Solar”.

THIS RFI IS NOT A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA); THEREFORE, DOE IS NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS.

In conjunction with the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO), is issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Marine and Hydrokinetic (MHK) Environmental Effects Assessment and Monitoring.”

The DOE is working closely with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to support and promote increased understanding of the potential environmental effects of marine and hydrokinetic energy devices.  This FOA will support the collection of environmental monitoring and experimental data from MHK devices and analyses of existing data.  

NOTE: Letters of Intent are requested, but are not required. Please see the Funding Opportunity Announcement document for more information on Letters of Intent. LETTERS OF INTENT MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA EERE EXCHANGE AT https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/.  (Letters of Intent submitted by email to Environmental_Assessment_FOA@go.doe.gov will still be accepted). 

02/13/14 - Modification No. 2 - Change the submission deadline for Full Applications from 02/14/2014 to 02/18/2014.

01/29/14 - Modification No. 1  - Change the submittal date for Replies to Reviewer Comments from 03/24/2014 to 03/18/2014.  

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) supports research and development efforts to address critical challenges and barriers for hydrogen delivery technology development.  The long-term goal of production and delivery research and development (R&D) is a high-volume hydrogen cost goal of $2-$4 per gallon gasoline equivalent (gge) (produced, delivered and dispensed, but untaxed) to allow fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) to be competitive on a dollar per mile basis with gasoline in hybrid electric vehicles.  More specifically, the portion of the cost goal apportioned to delivery is <$2/gge hydrogen.  Innovative materials, components, and systems are needed to establish the technical and cost feasibility for hydrogen delivery.  With this FOA, the DOE through the Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) seeks to fund hydrogen delivery research and development projects in order to move technologies towards reaching the hydrogen delivery cost goal of <$2/gge by addressing the cost of hydrogen compression, storage, and dispensing at the fueling station. The FOA includes the following topics: (1) forecourt hydrogen compressors for 700 bar gaseous dispensing, (2) integrated Intelligent Hydrogen Dispensers for 700 bar Gaseous Refueling of Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles and (3) forecourt hydrogen storage at 875 bar or greater.

This FOA supports research and development efforts to address critical challenges and barriers for hydrogen production technology development.  The long-term goal of production and delivery research and development (R&D) is a high-volume hydrogen cost goal of $2-$4 per gallon gasoline equivalent (gge) (delivered and dispensed, but untaxed) to allow fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) to be competitive on a dollar per mile basis with gasoline in hybrid electric vehicles.  More specifically, the portion of the cost goal apportioned to production is <$2/gge hydrogen.  Innovative materials, processes, and systems are needed to establish the technical and cost feasibility for renewable and low carbon hydrogen production.  With this FOA, the DOE through the Fuel Cell Technologies Office will seek to fund hydrogen production research and development projects in order to move technologies towards reaching the hydrogen production cost goal of <$2/gge. The FOA includes the following topics:

• Topic 1: Integrated or hybrid systems for central, semi-central or distributed production of low-cost, low carbon hydrogen from natural gas 
• Topic 2: Thermochemical conversion of bio-derived liquids for distributed or semi-central production of low-cost hydrogen
• Topic 3: Hydrogen production through direct solar watersplitting technologies: Advanced materials-based systems for direct solar water splitting for central or semi-central production of low-cost renewable hydrogen

With this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the Department of Energy (DOE) is accepting new applications aimed at research and development (R&D) for the continued development of advanced hydrogen storage systems and novel hydrogen storage materials supported through the Hydrogen Storage program. The goal is to enable the widespread commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and specifically to provide adequate hydrogen storage for onboard vehicle applications that meet the DOE hydrogen storage targets, as well as enabling early market applications such as materials handling equipment and portable power applications. Full commercialization of fuel cell systems using hydrogen will require advances in hydrogen storage technologies. Developing systems to enable lightweight, compact, and inexpensive hydrogen storage will help make hydrogen fuel cell systems competitive in a wide range of portable and stationary applications, and enable longer driving ranges for a wider variety of transportation applications. The FOA includes the following topics:

• Topic Area 1: Reducing the cost of compressed hydrogen storage systems
• Topic Area 2: Improved materials for fiber composites and balance of plant components
• Topic Area 3: New hydrogen storage materials discovery

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.

With this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), DOE is accepting new applications for projects proposing to demonstrate and deploy hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in Topics 1-3, and for research and development of hydrogen meters in Topic 4.  Only applications that are responsive to one of these topics will be accepted, and only one topic may be addressed per application.  Applicants may submit more than one application, provided that the multiple applications are clearly for separate and distinct projects.  For Topics 1-3, the primary objective of each proposed project must be to demonstrate and deploy hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in real-world environments.  Research and Development (R&D) of these technologies is not the focus of this effort and will not be funded through this announcement, except to the extent that some vehicle systems integration (for Topic 1) and engineering development (for Topics 2 and 3) may be acceptable.  For Topic 4, R&D is acceptable.

The Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) is seeking applications for projects that address the overarching theme of uncertainty quantification and reduction, specifically through the development of Geothermal Play Fairways. A play fairway analysis defines levels of uncertainty with respect to the presence and utility of geothermal system elements, and translates them into maps to high grade the geographic area over which the most favorable combinations of heat, permeability, and fluid are thought to extend. This analysis is conducted on a regional (basin) scale, with the resulting maps covering areas of up to several thousand square miles.

Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the Geothermal Technologies Office’s (GTO) Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) Subprogram seeks to advance subsurface characterization via an integrated technical approach to EGS R&D—GTO encourages the community to integrate technologies to address the challenges associated with quantifying reservoir complexity.  GTO is interested in increasing the precision and accuracy of directly measured parameters and improving the ability to constrain calculated or inferred reservoir properties from these direct measurements.  Critical parameters that GTO is interested in constraining include, but are not limited to: matrix to fracture heat transfer area; fluid mean residence time; in-situ stresses; fracture spacing; fracture aperture distribution; porosity; and reservoir volume.  GTO seeks research projects that will facilitate a better understanding of physicochemical conditions to optimize subsurface engineering and stimulation methods, as well as assess and better understand the evolution and sustainability of a reservoir during long-term operations.

DOE is soliciting applications from Indian Tribes, Tribal Energy Resource Development Organizations and Tribal Consortia to install “community-scale” or “facility-scale” clean energy systems on Indian lands to provide electricity and/or heating and cooling for local use in tribal buildings. For purposes of this announcement, “clean energy systems” include “renewable energy systems” and “combined heat and power systems.”  Projects selected under this Funding Opportunity Announcement are intended to reduce energy costs and increase energy security for Indian Tribes and tribal members.

DOE is soliciting applications from Indian Tribes, Tribal Energy Resource Development Organizations and Tribal Consortia, to install “community-scale” or “facility-scale” renewable energy and/or energy efficiency energy projects on Indian lands.  The renewable energy and/or energy efficiency projects are intended to provide electricity and/or heating and cooling or efficiency measures for existing tribal buildings, including homes, businesses, community buildings, government buildings, or other tribal facilities.  Projects selected under this Funding Opportunity Announcement are intended to reduce energy costs and increase energy security for Indian Tribes and tribal members. 

The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) initially titled “Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT).”  NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE.  The AFFECT FOA will provide direct funding to U.S. Federal agencies for the development of capital projects and other initiatives to increase the energy efficiency and renewable energy investments at agency facilities.

It is anticipated that the FOA will include the following two (2) topic areas:

Topic Area 1: Combined Heat and Power (CHP); and

Topic Area 2: Renewable Energy, including solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, ocean, geothermal, waste to energy, and new hydroelectric energy technologies.

The purpose of this Notice is to encourage prospective applicants to begin formulating ideas, gathering data, and developing partnerships in anticipation of the issuance of the FOA. Prior to FOA issuance, FEMP is making technical assistance available upon request to Federal agencies to identify and analyze CHP or renewable energy opportunities and technologies.  FEMP technical assistance related to the objectives of the AFFECT FOA will only be available to Federal agencies up until the release of the FOA, which is tentatively scheduled for release in the first quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2014.

The Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) initially titled “Marine and Hydrokinetic (Wave) Testing Infrastructure Development.”  NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE.  Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA.  It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange in the Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2013.  Please do not respond or submit questions in response to this Notice of Intent.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), works with key individuals to accomplish energy change within organizations by bringing expertise from all levels of project and policy implementation to enable Federal agencies to meet energy-related goals and to provide energy leadership to the country. The Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will provide direct funding to Federal agencies for the development of capital projects to initiate, supplement, improve or otherwise increase the viability and deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy investments at U.S. Federal government-owned facilities. The intent of the AFFECT FOA is for these capital projects to help facilitate the wider adoption of these technologies at other Federal facilities. Using the authority provided in Public Law 102-486, funding provided under the AFFECT FOA will implement FEMP’s continuing efforts to promote widespread energy efficiency and renewable energy technology deployment in the Federal sector. Projects selected for funding under the AFFECT FOA will support FEMP’s ongoing effort to build agency capacity through project implementation, encourage energy cost savings, and promote significant recipient involvement through cost leveraging from both Federal and non-Federal sources.

There are two topic areas to which an application may be submitted under this FOA: 1) Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and 2) Renewable Energy.

FEMP is hosting a 60-minute informational webinar and question and answer session on the AFFECT FOA at 2 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, November 12, 2013. Register for the webinar.

**Due to constraints with the eXCHANGE functionality, please note the following:

• Under "General" and in the field "Organization Type", please select "Government Owned and Operated (GOGO)" from the drop-down menu for U.S. Federal Agencies and Sub-Agencies. National Laboratory Contractors may select "Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC)" if applicable.
• Under "Funds and Costs" and in the field "Federal Share", please enter the amount of proposed funds requested from FEMP.
• Under "Funds and Costs" and in the field "Non-Federal Share", please enter the amount of proposed cost leverage.
• After filling in the initial blanks for the "Letter of Intent", proceed to the "Full Application" page to upload your "1-page Letter of Intent" described in the FOA.  Once the letter of intent has been uploaded, there will be no confirmation.  However, EERE Exchange will be alerted that a LOI has been uploaded.  Please note do not click "Submit" after uploading your "Letter of Intent File".  You will be able to upload the remaining application documents from this page before submitting the full application package.

**NOTE - Due to inclement weather / government closure, the Letter of Intent deadline has been moved to 12/12/13 at 5pm EST.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only.  Responses to the RFI will be treated as informational only and will not be viewed as a binding commitment for the respondent to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed.  DOE MAY decide at a later date to issue a FOA based on consideration of the input received from this RFI, but there is no guarantee that future funding opportunities or other activities will be undertaken as a result of this RFI.

DOE and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) invite input from the public regarding a research campaign to inform our understanding of offshore wind energy development that could be conducted in the next two to five years during the construction and operation of the first generation of deployed facilities.  We aim to quantify the impact-producing factors (i.e. the characteristics of a project that may cause an impact, such as the sound produced during construction) associated with a project and to evaluate the efficacy of monitoring technologies and techniques deployed at offshore wind farms selected at a future date.

The sole purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gain input from industry, academia, local, state and Federal government agencies, tribes, and other offshore wind stakeholders.  The information gathered with this RFI will be used to improve assessments of wind energy facility environmental effects.  DOE and BOEM will not pay for information provided under this RFI and will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI.  This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). DOE is not accepting applications.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to Enviro@go.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on May 30, 2013.  Responses should include:  cover page, 1 page executive summary, and up to a 5 page full response.

The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the The Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO), on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), intends to issue a FOA titled Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Medium Duty Trucks, Roof-top Backup Power, and Advanced Hydrogen Refueling Components.  NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent. Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA. It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange in May 2013.

Amendment 000001: The purpose of this amendment is to modify the Expected Date for Release of Reviewer Comments.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is supporting the development of tools and approaches that will significantly reduce the costs for solar energy systems across all technology areas (i.e. Photovoltaics, concentrating solar power, power electronics, balance of system and non-hardware cost such as customer acquisition permitting, financing, interconnection, and inspection.)  As part of the SunShot Incubator program, this funding opportunity is designed to help startup businesses and entrepreneurs develop technologies, innovative programs, and streamlined processes that will make solar more accessible for consumers in the U.S.

The SunShot Incubator Program is an aggressive pay for performance program focused on helping solar startups rapidly refine and commercialize promising, proven technologies and ideas. The program seeks to accelerate the commercialization of solar energy products and solutions that dramatically lower the cost of solar power.

This round of the SunShot Incubator Program is for both hardware and non-hardware solutions that reduce the cost of systems that convert solar energy into electric potential.

The SunShot Incubator program consists of five (5) tiers (divided between hardware and non-hardware) to which applications may be submitted:

Hardware:

Tier 0 includes awards of up to $500,000 with a 20% cost share requirement over 12 months to accelerate the transition from a proof-of-concept of all critical components to an early stage functional prototype.

Tier 1 includes awards of up to $1,000,000 with a 20% cost share requirement over 12 months to accelerate transition of early state functional prototype to manufacturing and commercially relevant prototype made in the lab.

Tier 2 includes awards of up to $4,000,000 with a 50% cost share requirement over 18 months to develop the manufacturing processes and equipment to move from a fully developed lab prototype to pilot-scale production.

Non-Hardware:

Tier 1S includes awards of up to $500,000 with a 20% cost share requirement over 12 months to accelerate transition of proof-of-concept or business plan to alpha capability and early customer trials.

Tier 2S includes awards of up to $2,000,000 with a 50% cost share requirement over 18 months to transition alpha capability through beta launch and full commercialization.

If you are interested in learning more please see the below section titled “FOA Documents” and download and read the full Funding Opportunity Announcement. This document provides a detailed program description and instructions on how to apply.

To learn more about the history of the Incubator program please see: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/sunshot/incubator.html

Two Webinars will be hosted by Incubator program staff to walk through program details and answer questions. Further details are provided in the FOA.

Please refer back here, to this website and section, for updates on the FOA and schedule.

Letters of Intent (Optional) if submitted, MUST be submitted to: sunshot.incubator@ee.doe.gov

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. DOE 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. DOE may or may not issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) based on consideration of the input received from this RFI.

The Department of Energy (DOE) seeks feedback from public and private sector stakeholders regarding the state of technology development and commercial readiness of emerging Waste-to-Energy (WTE) technologies. Information is also sought in identifying what barriers to commercialization remain and the appropriate role for DOE with regard to additional investment in research, development, demonstration and deployment (RDD&D) to promote broad adoption and commercial replication.

Questions regarding the content of this RFI should be submitted to: WasteToEnergy@go.doe.gov. Responses to questions will be posted on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) webpage.

All responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word or PDF format as an attachment in an email sent to: WasteToEnergy@go.doe.gov by 8:00 PM EDT on July 15, 2013.  Emails should have the subject line “Waste-to-Energy RFI Response”.

THIS RFI IS NOT A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA); THEREFORE, DOE IS NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS.

The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)’s Building Technologies Office (BTO) has announced the availability of up to $6 million under the Building Energy Codes Program. The project goal is to investigate whether investing in education, training, and outreach programs can produce a significant change in single-family residential building code compliance rates.  Through this FOA, EERE seeks to fund organizations representing either state or private entities to:

• Measure current single-family residential energy code compliance rates;

• Implement an education, training, and outreach program;

• Measure the post-program single-family residential building energy code compliance rates.

 The eXCHANGE system is currently designed to enforce hard deadlines for 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 (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov).

An Informational Webinar is being held on April 23, 2014 at 1:30-3:30PM EDT. You may register at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/662644297

DOE hosted an informational webinar on the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 on December 4, 2013. Follow this link to view a recording of the webinar. (https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/686444776). You will be required to register for the webinar in order to view the recording. A transcript and the slide presentation are available in the FOA Documents section of this announcement.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

The purpose of this amendment is to make the following change:

Include informational webinar instructions for a webinar to be held on December 4th, 2013.

Title:    Solar Decathlon 2015 FOA Informational Webinar

Date:    Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Time:   2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/686444776

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements:

PC-based attendees:

Required: Windows® 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Mac®-based attendees:

Required: Mac OS® X 10.6 or newer

Mobile attendees:

Required: iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phone or Android tablet

All other parts of the FOA remain unchanged.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Through The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the Department of Energy challenges 20 domestic and international affiliated collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost effective, energy-efficient, and attractive.  The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.

The purposes of the Solar Decathlon are to:

• Educate students and the public about the money-saving opportunities and environmental benefits presented by clean-energy products and design solutions.

• Demonstrate to the public the comfort and affordability of homes that combine energy-efficient construction and appliances with renewable-energy systems available today.

• Provide participating students with unique training that prepares them to enter our nation’s clean-energy workforce.

The challenge to the teams competing in Solar Decathlon 2015 is to safely and effectively design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive in less than 24 months.

The Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an educational workforce development program designed to educate university-level students.  The Solar Decathlon is also a public outreach demonstration designed to foster greater adoption of clean energy technologies and energy efficiency.

A modification has been made to the FOA document to replace a broken website link and to correct a typographical error.

This FOA will support the development of instrumentation, associated signal processing algorithms or software, and integration of instrumentation packages for monitoring the environmental impacts of marine and hydrokinetic technologies.  It will also support the development and testing of sensors, instrumentation, or processing techniques to collect physical data on ocean waves (e.g., height, period, directionality, steepness). 

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 (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov).     

An informational webinar was held on March 20th, 2014.

Please see the .pdf of the webinar slides below in the FOA DOCUMENTS SECTION.

Through research and development of solid-state lighting (SSL),including both light-emitting diode (LED) and organic light emitting diode (OLED) technologies, the objectives of this opportunity are to:

·         Maximize the energy-efficiency of SSL products in the marketplace;

·         Remove market barriers through improvements to lifetime, color quality, and lighting system performance;

·         Reduce costs of SSL sources and luminaires;

·         Improve product consistency while maintaining high quality products; and

Encourage the growth, leadership, and sustainability of domestic U.S. manufacturing within the SSL industry. 

The Topic Areas of Interest for this Announcement include topics for LED and OLED technologies: 

Topic Area 1:  LED Core Technology Research

Topic Area 2:  OLED Core Technology Research

Topic Area 3:  LED Product Development

Topic Area 4:  LED Product Development – Novel LED Luminaire Systems

Topic Area 5:  OLED Product Development

Topic Area 6:  LED Manufacturing Research & Development

Topic Area 7:  OLED Manufacturing Research & Development

For additional information regarding Solid-State Lighting Research and Development, please see the program roadmap documents:

Solid-State Lighting Research and Development: Multi-Year Program Plan  (http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/ssl_mypp2013_web.pdf)

Solid-State Lighting Research and Development: Manufacturing Roadmap

(http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/ssl_manuf-roadmap_sept2013.pdf)

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 issuse 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 (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov).  The eXCHANGE helpdesk and/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission:  In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov).  The eXCHANGE helpdesk and/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing the submission on behalf of, and with the Applicant's concurrence).  DOE will only accept late applications when the Applicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contacted the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance; and c) has submitted the application through eXCHANGE within 24 hours of the FOA's posted deadline.

Questions and answers regarding this FOA are posted in Exchange.  A link to these Q&As is provided under "Frequently Asked Questions" for this FOA and is as follows: https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/FAQ.aspx?FoaId=18e3fe40-9465-4d9f-a77a-63c535aabed0.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) will issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Bioenergy Technologies Incubator”.

BETO’s mission is to engage in research and development (R&D) and demonstration at increasing scale activities to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, and bioproducts and biopower that enable biofuel production. To accomplish this mission, BETO develops a strategic plan, or multi-year program plan , to identify the technical challenges and barriers that need to be overcome. However, BETO recognizes that there may be novel and potentially disruptive ideas that do not necessarily align well with BETO’s current multi-year program plan yet still meet the goals and mission of BETO. The Bioenergy Incubator Program is intended to identify these potentially impactful technologies and solutions that are not meaningfully addressed in BETO’s strategic plan or project portfolio. It is NOT intended to fund projects that are incremental improvements to current products or processes or for established work in BETO’s strategic plan or current portfolio.

The Bioenergy Technologies Incubator FOA will be ‘open’ to any and all impactful proposals which significantly advance the mission of the BETO. It is expected that proposals will be at early Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) ranging from 2 (Technology concept and/or application formulated) to 4 (Component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment). Successful incubator projects will reduce the risk associated with potentially breakthrough approaches and technologies so that they could be viable candidates in future program roadmaps.

EERE envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements. The total amount of funding for the FOA is $10 million. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately 12-24 months, with an award size from $0.5 million to $2.0 million, with 20% cost-share.

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 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 (exchange@hq.doe.gov).  The Exchange helpdesk and/or the EERE Exchange System Administrators (exchange@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission:

In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance (exchange@hq.doe.gov).  The Exchange helpdesk and/or the EERE Exchange System Administrators (exchange@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving the issues (including finalizing the submission on behalf of and with the Applicant's concurrence).  DOE will only accept late applications when the Applicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance; and c) has submitted the application through Exchange within 24 hours of the FOA's posted deadline.

The Bioenergy Technologies Incubator FOA Informational Webinar was held Monday, March 3, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EST. Standard application questions regarding the EERE Office and FOA procedures were discussed.

Here is the link to the Webinar: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/689477432

Amendment 000001:  Added Teaming Partner List to the Executive Summary and to the end of Section I.B.  Also clarified the compliance criteria for Concept Papers and Full Applications in Sections III.C.1.i and III.C.1.ii respectively and content requirements for Concept Papers and Full Applications in Sections IV.C.1, IV.D.1, and V.A.1 and V.A.

Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) The Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) of EERE seeks to establish a Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Composites Materials and Structures that will support U.S. prosperity and security; and contribute to the creation of the pilot National Network for Manufacturing Innovation.  The vision for the Institute is to revitalize American manufacturing and support domestic manufacturing competitiveness.  The technical topic area for this Institute is low cost, energy efficient manufacturing of fiber reinforced polymer composites.  The Institute will target continuous or discontinuous, primarily carbon and glass fiber systems, with thermoset or thermoplastic resin materials.  These types of composites are foundational technologies that are broadly applicable and pervasive in multiple industries and markets with potentially transformational technical and economic impact. 

Overview Webinar: The Webinar mentioned in the FOA was held on March 6th, 2014 from 3:00pm to 4:30pm Eastern Standard Time.  Link to previously recorded informational webinar: DOE Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Composite Materials and Structures FOA:

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/197252097

The Webinar script and slides are provided in the FOA Documents section below.

The purposes of this modification are to:

1. clarify that Non-DOE FFRDCs are not eligible to apply as Prime Recipients, but are eligible to apply as Sub-recipients. 

2. clarify that applicants (other than DOE FFRDCs) can collaborate as Sub-recipients on multiple applications. 

The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)’s Wind & Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO) seeks to fund R&D in technology approaches and solutions that are not currently represented in the Office’s Multi-Year Program Plan and/or existing project portfolio in a meaningful or significant way. This Incubator Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) represents an opportunity to support novel and non-incremental technology approaches and to ultimately facilitate identification and future inclusion of highly promising, emerging technology approaches into the Office’s Multi-Year Program Plans and future program portfolios. The FOA will accept applications for any and all ideas that have a significant potential to advance the mission of the Wind Program.

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 (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov).    

An Informational Webinar was held for this FOA on April 17, 2014.  To view the webinar, click the link below.  Please note, that the webinar starts approximately 4 minutes late. 

The Water Power Program is seeking a Prize Administrator with expertise in prize competitions to collaborate with DOE, technical experts, and a wave tank testing facility in developing and implementing the Wave Energy Converter (WEC) Prize.  The WEC Prize competition aims to attract innovative ideas from developers new to the industry and next generation ideas from existing developers by offering a monetary prize purse and providing an opportunity for tank testing and evaluation of scaled WEC prototypes. The Program envisions that this competition will achieve game-changing performance enhancements to WEC devices, establishing a pathway to sweeping cost reductions at a commercial scale. Administration of the WEC Prize will include: prize development, implementation of the WEC Prize competition stages (e.g. design, build, and test and evaluation), and post-competition publicity and evaluation of impact of the WEC Prize.

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 (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov).

An Informational Webinar was held on March 24, 2014. You may access the webinar at the following link. Please note there is a 2 minute delay at the beginning of the webinar: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/416805624

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support the development of technologies that mitigate U.S. transportation and logistics constraints affecting the deployment of taller utility-scale wind turbine systems. Continued turbine up-scaling and design advancements are expected to increase turbine performance and lower costs. Scaling to higher hub heights allows wind turbines to capture less turbulent and often stronger wind resources, thereby improving productivity and economics.  Supported projects will develop lifecycle cost-competitive tower solutions that address the challenges of fabricating, transporting, assembling, maintaining, and decommissioning towers for turbine hub heights of at least 120 m. These projects will strengthen U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing wind turbine components, reduce the cost of wind energy, and dramatically expand the geographic range of cost-effective wind power in the United States.

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 (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov).

An Informational Webinar was held on February 11, 2014. You may access the webinar here -

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/122492481

The purposes of this modification are to:

1. update the FOA with information presented during the Informational Webinar on the support roles of DOE National Laboratories and NOAA with respect to the FOA research areas with the addition of Appendix G.

2. revise the FOA to show that applicant replies to reviewer comments is extended from two business days to three business days in Section IV.F.


This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is aimed at improving the physical understanding of atmospheric processes which directly impact the wind industry forecasts and incorporate the new understanding into the foundational weather forecasting models.  The awardee, in partnership with Department of Energy (DOE), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and a Balancing Authority (BA), will conduct a field campaign in an area of complex terrain to assess how physical processes alter wind speeds at hub heights. From this research, the team will work to develop physical modeling schemes or atmospheric theories that can be incorporated in foundational weather models to improve wind forecasting.

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 (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.


An Informational Webinar was held on April 21, 2014. You may access the recorded webinar at the following link.
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/592662257

Amendment 000002 to DE-FOA-0000988

The DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is an organization focused on achieving aggressive and well-defined mid-to-long term clean energy goals for the United States of America. In that context, EERE has established multi-year plans and roadmaps. EERE focuses the majority of its resources on a limited number of "highest probability of success" pathways/approaches to ensure that the program initiatives are supported at a critical mass (both in terms of dollars and time) for maximum impact.

This roadmap-based approach is one of EERE's greatest strengths, which can create challenges in recognizing and exploring unanticipated, game changing pathways/approaches which may ultimately be superior to the pathways/approaches on our existing roadmaps.

To enhance the responsiveness of the roadmap approach, EERE is issuing "Incubator" Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) within its existing Offices and programs to support innovative technologies and solutions that could help meet existing goals but are not represented in a significant way in the Offices' existing Multi-Year Program Plans (MYPPs) or current portfolios.  The Incubator programs will allow EERE to assess new technologies for their potential to be “on ramped” to future MYPPs.  Successful incubator projects will reduce the risk associated with potentially breakthrough approaches and technologies so that they could be viable candidates for inclusion in future program roadmaps.

DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) develops and deploys efficient and environmentally friendly highway transportation technologies that will enable America to use less petroleum. These technologies will provide Americans with greater freedom of mobility and energy security, while lowering costs and reducing impacts on the environment.  For example, the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge requires dramatic improvements in plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) performance and cost that are specified as technical targets and “stretch goals” for key technical areas of plug-in electric vehicles. These are detailed in the EV Everywhere Blueprint document, posted on the VTO website. Other specific technology and technical goals can be found in supporting roadmaps and plans such as the Office's Multiyear Program Plan, U.S. DRIVE Partnership Plan; 21st Century Truck Roadmap and Technical White Papers; and other plans and roadmaps listed under the “information resources” and “plans and roadmaps” section of our website.

The VTO Incubator FOA areas of interest include but are not limited to:

· Energy Storage R&D

· Advanced Power Electronics and Electric Motors R&D

· Advanced Combustion Engine R&D

· Materials Technology

· Fuels and Lubricant Technologies

· Other – In addition to the above topic areas, this VTO Incubator FOA is open to applications that aim to bring to market a novel, non-incremental technology that facilitates one or more of the overall VTO goals.

Next Generation Photovoltaic Technologies III

The Next Generation Photovoltaic Technologies III program seeks to support research that applies basic science towards the realization of devices that demonstrate the photovoltaic (PV) effect.  Specifically, this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits proposals that apply promising basic materials science that has been proven at the materials properties level to demonstrate photovoltaic conversion improvements to address or exceed SunShot goals.

Webinar Information:

After registering at the link above you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Amendment 000005 to DE-FOA-0000991.  

The Vehicle Technologies Office supports a broad research, development, and deployment technology portfolio focused on reducing the cost and improving the performance of a mix of near- and long-term vehicle technologies including advanced batteries, power electronics and electric motors, lightweight and propulsion materials, advanced combustion engines, advanced fuels and lubricants, and other enabling technologies.  Specifically, activities are aimed at meeting the goals and objectives of the President's Electric Vehicle Everywhere Grand Challenge as well as improvements in other vehicle technologies such as powertrains, fuel, tires, and auxiliary systems and Vehicle Technologies Office . Investment in advanced vehicle technologies, like vehicle electrification, lightweighting, and combustion engines will yield benefits to conventional vehicles, as well as yielding the technologies necessary for alternative fuel vehicles.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement contains a total of 14 areas of interest in the general areas of advanced light-weighting; advanced battery development; power electronics; advanced heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems; and fuels and lubricants.

The Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), seeks to enable a wide range of renewable energy and energy efficient technology advancements to ensure a clean and secure domestic energy future. The EERE Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI), launched in 2013, has the goal of enhancing United States (US) competitiveness in clean energy technologies, and aims to improve existing manufacturing processes and to stimulate the manufacturing of new energy products in the United States. The mission of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) within EERE is to develop and transform biomass resources into commercially viable, high performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower through targeted research, development, demonstration, and deployment supported through public and private partnerships. This FOA seeks to address both the EERE CEMI aims and to fulfill EERE BETO's mission by demonstrating a new technology pathway to produce high performance and low cost renewable carbon fibers.

The FOA seeks to develop a cost competitive pathway to produce high performance carbon fiber for vehicle lightweighting from renewable non-food biomass. Carbon fiber composites are lightweight, yet strong, materials that can greatly improve vehicle fuel efficiency when incorporated into structural and non-structural components. Carbon fibers are polymers that are typically made from petroleum and natural gas feedstocks (propylene and ammonia, respectively) that react to form acrylonitrile (ACN) which is then polymerized and spun into polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The volatility of the raw material prices and the energy intensive processes used in the manufacturing contribute to high cost carbon fibers (>$10/lb), which deter widespread use by the automotive industry. The objective of the FOA is to identify and develop a cost-competitive technology pathway to high performance carbon fibers using biomass as a starting raw feedstock and biomass derived ACN (bio-ACN) as a target product. The goal is to produce bio-ACN at a modeled cost of $1.00/lb to enable the overall manufacturing of carbon fiber at $5.00/lb by 2020.

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 (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission:

In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing the submission on behalf of and with the Applicant’s concurrence). DOE will only accept late applications when the Applicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contacted the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance, and c) has submitted the application through eXCHANGE within 24 hours of the FOA’s posted deadline.

The Renewable Carbon Fiber FOA informational Webinar was held Thursday, February 13, 2:30 p.m - 3:30 p.m. EST.  Standard application questions regarding the EERE Office and FOA procedures will be discussed. Below is a YouTube link to the webinar presentation.

BioenergyKDF YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YW2ZH-bnIY  

Through this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) the Building Technologies Office (BTO) seeks to establish a performance rating mechanism for assessing the energy performance of fenestration attachments. DOE and the fenestration attachments industry have identified accurate and objective performance data as a critical need for product adoption.

The selected applicant to the Craft FOA will provide a third-party rating, certification, and labeling program, which will enable consumers to distinguish among energy-efficient attachment products and models. The underlying data will assist architects and engineers in better understanding the energy impact of particular products. The awardee will develop performance verification, and labeling standards for residential and commercial fenestration attachments. The successful applicant will also develop a Program to rate fenestration attachment energy performance and provide accurate and useful product comparison criteria, allowing end users in residential and commercial markets to assess the relative energy cost/benefits of fenestration attachments.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders to assist in further defining the scope and priorities of EERE’s commercialization and entrepreneurship activities. Specifically, this RFI is intended to inform the Commercialization Team’s activities within the Office of Strategic Programs.

 Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to commercialization@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (EST) on October 20, 2013. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.doc) or (.docx) attachment to the email with no more than 3 pages in length for each category section listed in the RFI. Please use 11 point font and .75 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) addresses the application of advanced materials and advanced manufacturing techniques to the development of new hydropower technologies.  With the significant advancements realized over the last decade, Computer Aided Design (CAD) driven, additive manufacturing technologies can effectively push the performance and speed the adoption of new hydropower technologies. 
  
Applicants should propose to design an integrated hydropower turbine generator system that applies advanced materials and/or additive manufacturing techniques and produce a prototype unit at an appropriate scale to enable in-water performance testing in a laboratory environment.  The project should include design, in-water performance testing, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) analysis that takes into account production scale manufacturing costs, as well as  development of a manufacturing plan that estimates the material and process requirements for full-scale production of the design.  

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 (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov). 

An Informational Webinar was held for this FOA on April 23, 2014. To view the webinar, click the link below

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/361593865

The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is soliciting feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to advanced biofuel, bioproducts, and biopower technology validation and potential deployment strategies.  EERE is specifically interested in information on advanced biofuel, bioproducts, and biopower technologies that are ready for technology validation at a Technology Readiness Level of 6 or higher. 

NOTICE OF INTENT:

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Building Technologies Office (BTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Certification and Rating of Attachments for Fenestration Technologies (CRAFT)”.

The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants advance notice of the proposed upcoming FOA. NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE.  Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA.  It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange in FY14.  Please do not respond or submit questions in response to this Notice of Intent.

Internal analysis from the Building Technology Office’s Prioritization Tool shows that energy-efficient window (fenestration) attachments are cost-effective and with increased market penetration, have the potential to save nearly 800 TBtu per year by. As a result, BTO has developed a strategy to catalyze rapid deployment and installation of energy-efficient fenestration attachments. The FOA’s objective is to develop a third-party program that creates a consistent set of energy performance-based rating and certification standards and program procedures, oversees the implementation of rating, certification, labeling, and performance verification procedures, and develops and maintains a publicly available, searchable electronic database of fenestration attachment product performance. A third-party rating, certification, and labeling program would enable consumers to distinguish among energy-efficient attachment products and models. The underlying data would assist architects and engineers in better understanding the energy impact of a particular product choice.

The intended FOA will address this need by providing the successful Awardee with four years of funding to develop a program for rating, certification, performance verification, and labeling standards for residential and commercial fenestration attachments.

NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. 

While geothermal power is an attractive potential source for sustainable energy production, the high heat temperature requirements (typically >150°C) of most geothermal capture systems constrain geographic distribution and economic viability of geothermal energy production. Advancement of strategic material or mineral recovery aims to address this limitation. By partnering with geothermal and mineral industry stakeholders to develop additional revenue streams from brines, the economic viability of geothermal projects will increase while also allowing for increased geographic diversity of this clean, round-the-clock energy source.

Rare earths and strategic minerals are essential for modern industry, especially clean-energy technologies, but are subject to supply risk in the face of ever-increasing demand. As an example, consumer uses of lithium batteries have soared over the last decade, powering everything from electric cars to tablets to cell phones. Global demand for lithium carbonate is expected to exceed 250,000 tons by 2017—a 60% increase over current usage. As demand grows in this burgeoning market, a reliable supply of critical materials for advanced manufacturing technologies is a growing concern. This program aims to help alleviate this type of supply bottleneck.

The Energy Department seeks up to ten 1-2 year feasibility and/or applied R&D projects that will lead to commercialized technologies. Geothermal mining of rare earth and near-critical metals are the focus of this research, with the intent to effectively lower the cost of geothermal energy production while diversifying and stabilizing the supply of critical materials for domestic industries. To learn more about the ‘Low-Temperature Mineral Recovery Program’ funding opportunity, click here. Register for an informative webinar to learn more about the strategic material extraction and this opportunity.

The Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality. EERE supports innovative technologies that reduce both risk and costs of bringing geothermal power online. Learn more about the Department's efforts to develop geothermal energy.

This funding opportunity intends to spur photovoltaic and concentrating solar power manufacturing and supply chain companies in the U.S. by aiding the development of innovative cost reducing and/or efficiency increasing technology into useable manufacturing equipment and processes. Awardees are expected to move technology from the development to pilot stages of manufacturing or construction, or from pilot to full-scale manufacturing or construction within one to four years and demonstrate their proposed cost reductions.

This FOA was amended on April 9, 2014.

The purpose of this amendment (001) is to revise Section III.B.3 to clarify the costs related to independent research and development (IR&D) for the awards made under this Funding Opportunity Announcement. Please see Section III.B.3 on page 17.
 

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Bioenergy Technologies Incubator”.

BETO’s mission is to engage in research and development (R&D) and demonstration at increasing scale activities to transform renewable biomass resources into commercially viable, high-performance biofuels, and bioproducts and biopower that enable biofuel production. To accomplish this mission, BETO develops a strategic plan, or multi-year program plan, to identify the technical challenges and barriers that need to be overcome. These technical challenges and barriers form the basis for BETO to issue funding opportunities announcements (FOAs) for financial assistance awards in these specific areas. However, BETO recognizes that there may be novel and potentially disruptive ideas that do not necessarily satisfy the requirement of specific FOAs yet still meet the goals and mission of BETO. The Bioenergy Incubator Program is intended to identify these potentially impactful ideas that are not meaningfully addressed in BETO’s strategic plan or project portfolio. It is NOT intended to fund projects that are incremental improvements to current products or processes or for established work in BETO’s strategic plan or current portfolio.

The purpose of this Notice to provide potential applicants advance notice that the BETO, on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), intends to issue a FOA titled Bioenergy Technologies Incubator.  NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE.  Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent.  Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA.  It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange February 2014.

*** BENEFIT FOA 2nd Informational Webinar will be held Tuesday, March 25, 2014 3:00-4:00 ET. Register at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/344478633 ***

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has issued, on behalf of the Building Technologies Office (BTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled Building Energy Efficiency Frontiers and Incubator Technologies (BENEFIT) - 2014, Number DE-FOA-0001027. The FOA is posted on the EERE eXCHANGE website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.

Mandatory concept papers must be submitted through the EERE eXCHANGE website by March 6, 2014, followed by full applications due by April 21, 2014. Applicants must first register and create an account on the EERE eXCHANGE website. A User Guide for EERE eXCHANGE can be found at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx after logging in to the system. 

The BENEFIT FOA includes the following Areas of Interest:

Incubators (Off-Roadmap):

Area of Interest 1:  Open Topic for Energy Efficiency Solutions for Residential and Commercial Buildings

Innovative energy-efficiency technologies, approaches, or design tools NOT already supported or targeted by BTO are eligible to apply under this area of interest, providing they show a clear application to residential and/or commercial buildings with significant primary energy savings potential.

Area of Interest 2:  Innovative Sensors & Sensor Systems

Develop open architecture sensors and sensor systems that easily share data to enable building operators and owners to cost effectively capture energy and cost savings through the use of new and existing control system applications. Major goals in this development area are low cost, data sharing, and ease of deployment (plug-n-play methodologies).

Frontiers (Roadmap-Driven):

Area of Interest 3:  Advanced Energy-Efficient Clothes Dryers

Applications are sought for advanced energy-efficient clothes dryers (vented and ventless).  Economic and technical goals are defined for this area.  Furthermore, concepts with measurable non-energy benefits, which are important for market success, are particularly encouraged.

Area of Interest 4:  Highly Insulating Building Envelope Components

Subtopic  1, Visibly transparent building envelope components:  There are technical and economic goals for this area that are significant improvements of current technology.  Performance metrics include ≥ R-7 (residential) and ≥ R-5 (commercial).

Subtopic 2, Opaque building envelope components:  The metrics and targets for this subtopic are > R-8/inch building envelope thermal insulation material that can be added to either the exterior or interior walls in existing buildings at < $0.30/ft² installed cost premium (labor and material).  

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled Environmental Stewardship for Renewable Energy Technologies: Marine and Hydrokinetic (MHK) Environmental and Resource Characterization Instrumentation.

This FOA will support the development of instrumentation, associated processing tools, and integration of instrumentation packages for monitoring the environmental impacts of marine and hydrokinetic technologies. It will also support the development and testing of sensors, instrumentation, or processing techniques to collect physical data on ocean waves (e.g., height, period, directionality, steepness) and characterize the available resources.

It is anticipated that the FOA may include the following Topic Areas:

Topic Area 1 – MHK Environmental Instrumentation Development

Topic Area 2 - Development and Integration of Instrumentation Packages

Topic Area 3 - Wave Resource Characterization

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

The purpose of this Notice of Intent is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Building Technologies Office (BTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Building Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Incubator Technologies (BENEFIT) - 2014”, Number DE-FOA-0001027. The Notice of Intent is posted on the EERE eXCHANGE website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.

NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent. Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA. DOE plans to issue the FOA in or around the first calendar quarter in 2014. The applicant must first register and create an account on the EERE eXCHANGE website. A User Guide for EERE eXCHANGE can be found on the EERE website https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx after logging in to the system.  It is anticipated that the FOA may include the following Areas of Interest:

Incubators (Off-Roadmap):

Area of Interest 1:  Open Topic for Energy Efficiency Solutions for Residential and Commercial Buildings

Innovative energy-efficiency technologies, approaches, or design tools NOT already supported or targeted by BTO are eligible to apply under this area of interest, providing they show a clear application to residential and/or commercial buildings with significant primary energy savings potential.

Area of Interest 2:  Innovative Sensors & Sensor Systems

Develop open architecture sensors and sensor systems that easily share data to enable building operators and owners to cost effectively capture energy and cost savings through the use of new and existing control system applications. Major goals in this development area are low cost, data sharing, and ease of deployment (plug-n-play methodologies).

Frontiers (Roadmap-Driven):

Area of Interest 3:  Advanced Energy-Efficient Clothes Dryers

Applications are sought for advanced electric energy-efficient clothes dryers (vented and ventless).  Economic and technical goals are defined for this area.  Furthermore, concepts with measurable non-energy benefits, which are important for market success, are particularly encouraged.

Area of Interest 4:  Highly Insulating Building Envelope Components

Subtopic  1, Visibly transparent building envelope components:  There are technical and economic goals for this area that are significant improvements of current technology.  Performance metrics include ≥ R-7 (residential) and ≥ R-5 (commercial).

Subtopic 2, Opaque building envelope components:  The metrics and targets for this subtopic are > R-8/inch building envelope thermal insulation material that can be added to either the exterior or interior walls in existing buildings at < $0.30/ft² installed cost premium (labor and material).

The Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is seeking applicants to establish the National Incubator Initiative for Clean Energy (NIICE).  NIICE seeks to advance three goals:

• Improve the performance of existing and new clean energy business incubators across the country by setting a high performance standard, fostering best practices, and improving coordination of the incubator community;
• Strengthen support for early-stage companies developing high-risk technologies and scaling from prototype to domestically-based production; and
• Catalyze investment in early-stage clean energy businesses by improving information regarding capital access for incubators, including disseminating analysis and materials on philanthropic funds, corporate venture, and other innovative financing mechanisms.

To accomplish these goals, NIICE is funding awards in two topic areas: (1) a national organization to serve as a coordinating body for clean energy incubators and a central source of information for clean energy stakeholders; and (2) set a benchmark to develop top-performing, clean energy-focused incubators by funding three to five incubators across the United States.

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 (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission:

In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing the submission on behalf of and with the Applicant’s concurrence). DOE will only accept late applications when the Applicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contacted the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance, and c) has submitted the application through eXCHANGE within 24 hours of the FOA’s posted deadline.

A webinar was conducted by DOE to provide more information to potential applicants on March 6, 2014. Materials from the webinar, including the slides and script, can be found in the FOA Documents section below. 

Title: National Incubator Initiative for Clean Energy (NIICE) FOA: Pre-Application Informational Webinar

Date: Thursday, March 6, 2014

Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET

Link:  Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/318108032

System Requirements

PC-based attendees

Required: Windows® 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Mac®-based attendees

Required: Mac OS® X 10.6 or newer 

Mobile attendees

Required: iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phone or Android tablet

A webinar was conducted by DOE to provide more information to potential applicants on January 21, 2014. Slides from the webinar can be found in the FOA Documents section below. 

Title: National Incubator Initiative for Clean Energy (NIICE) FOA: Pre-Concept Paper Informational Webinar

Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET

Link:  Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/587911776

System Requirements

PC-based attendees

Required: Windows® 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Mac®-based attendees

Required: Mac OS® X 10.6 or newer 

Mobile attendees

Required: iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phone or Android tablet

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Vehicle Technology Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Vehicle Technologies Incubator ”.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the DOE’s intention to issue this Funding Opportunity Announcement in the near term. Any of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change.  DOE will not entertain any questions or telephone calls at this time involving this Notice. Once the Funding Opportunity Announcement has been released, DOE will provide an avenue for potential applicants to submit questions.

This is a Notice of Intent (NOI) only.  DOE is not accepting applications for funding as a result of this notice.  DOE may issue a FOA as described herein, may issue a FOA that is significantly different than the FOA described herein, or may not issue a FOA at all.

Congress established the SBIR and STTR programs to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of Federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy. SBIR has four program goals:

• Stimulate technological innovation
• Use small business to meet Federal R/R&D needs
• Foster and encourage participation by the socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, and those that are 51 percent owned and controlled by women, in technological innovation
• Increase private sector commercialization of innovations derived from Federal R/R&D, thereby increasing competition, productivity, and economic growth

The Department of Energy is making available up to $4 million for cleantech projects through the Department’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, which help small businesses develop technologies with a strong potential for commercialization and job creation. Small businesses that win awards in these programs keep the rights to any technologies they develop and are encouraged to commercialize them. The programs help small businesses bring innovative technologies to market that help spur economic growth and diversify the nation's energy portfolio. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)  is one of five “applied energy” program Offices participating in  Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), (DE-FOA-0001046) posted on grants.gov and FedConnect.  This solicitation, like all DOE SBIR/STTR solicitations is being run by the DOE/SBIR office (science.energy.gov/sbir).

Letters of Intent must be submitted by December 16, 2013, 5:00 pm EST

Full applications must be submitted by February 4, 2014, 11:59 p.m. EST

Submitting your Letter of Intent

Letters of intent will only be accepted electronically through the DOE Portfolio Analysis and Management System (PAMS) website: https://pamspublic.science.energy.gov/. Please refer to Part IV B of the Funding Opportunity Announcement for instructions for submitting your letter of intent.

The Funding Opportunity Announcement (DE-FOA-0001046) is available at FedConnect: https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/PublicPages/PublicSearch/Public_Opportunities.aspx. The Funding Opportunity Announcement can be downloaded by clicking on the “BODY” link on the right side of the page. The Topics for Release 2 are available at:http://www.science.energy.gov/~/media/sbir/pdf/docs/C38P1R2_Topics_11_01_13_FINAL_Ver_5.pdf. 

The purpose of this modification is to revise the Notice of Intent to include eligibility language for ALL Applicants and specifically for DOE Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs).

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Technology Incubator for Wind Energy Innovations”.

EERE is an organization focused on achieving aggressive and well-defined mid-to-long term clean energy goals for the United States of America.  In that context, EERE has established multi-year plans and roadmaps.  EERE focuses the majority of its resources on a limited number of "highest probability of success" pathways/approaches to ensure that the program initiatives are supported at a critical mass (both in terms of dollars and time) for maximum impact.

This roadmap-based approach is one of EERE's greatest strengths, which can create challenges in recognizing and exploring unanticipated, game changing pathways/approaches which may ultimately be superior to the pathways/approaches on our existing roadmaps.

To enhance the responsiveness of the roadmap approach, EERE is issuing "Incubator" Funding Opportunity Announcements within its existing Offices and programs to support innovative technologies and solutions that could help meet existing goals but are not represented in a significant way in the Offices' existing Multi-Year Program Plans (MYPPs) or current portfolios.  The Incubator programs will allow EERE to assess new technologies for their potential to be “on ramped” to future MYPPs.  Successful incubator projects will reduce the risk associated with potentially breakthrough approaches and technologies so that they could be viable candidates for inclusion in future program roadmaps.

The planned “Technology Incubator for Wind Energy Innovations” FOA continues the work of the Wind Program within EERE, and supports the long-term goals of WWPTO, which include:

• Lower the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of land-based utility-scale wind energy systems from 2011 reference costs1 of 7.2 ¢/kWh (cents per kilowatt hour) to 4.2 ¢/kWh by 2030
• Lower LCOE of fixed-bottom offshore utility-scale wind energy systems from 2011 reference costs1 of 22.5 ¢/kWh to 13.7 ¢/kWh by 2030.

The FOA encompasses applications for any and all ideas that have a significant potential to advance the mission of the Wind Program. All high-impact applications will be considered.

The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, on behalf of EERE intends to issue a FOA titled, “Technology Incubator for Wind Energy Innovations”. NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent. Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA. It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange no later than March 2014.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Wind Forecasting Improvement Project in Complex Terrain.”

By researching physical processes in complex terrain that drive wind and ramp events, the WWPTO is seeking proposals for improving short-term (0 to 15 hour) wind forecasts. Additionally the research is intended to benefit the day-ahead wind forecasts as well in order to benefit the U.S. wind industry.  This FOA will fund one recipient to populate a study area (approximately 800 by 800 kilometers) with additional meteorological instrumentation and equipment to measure specific physical properties. The WWPTO is interested in the region between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coastline as a candidate area for studying these physical properties.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in early 2014. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

The purpose of this Notice of Intent is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), number DE-FOA-0000991 entitled “FY14 Vehicle Technologies Program Wide Funding Opportunity Announcement”. 

NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE.  Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent. Prospective applicants should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA.  It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange on or about January 2014.

This FOA will cover multiple areas of Interest/topic  areas that span a range of technologies that will enable VTO to achieve programmatic goals and objectives while contributing to the overall mission success of DOE and EERE.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Water Power Manufacturing”.

This FOA supports  the application of advanced materials and advanced manufacturing techniques to the development of new hydropower technologies.  With the significant advancements realized over the last decade, the application of advanced materials, and Computer Aided Design (CAD) driven, additive manufacturing technologies can effectively push the performance and speed the adoption of new hydropower technologies.    

There is a significant opportunity to substantially increase hydropower generation at low-head sites in the US and around the world (“low-head” = sites with heads in the range of 2-20 meters, or 6-66 feet).  These  “new” hydropower opportunities, which are typically capable of generating between 100 kW - 30 MW, are readily present at existing non-powered dams, and existing constrained waterways (to include canals and conduits).   The ability to leverage existing water resource infrastructure makes these sites particularly attractive from an economic and permitting perspective.  For example, these sites (non-powered dams and constrained waterways) tend to have roads and transmission lines already established on-site (or at least within close-proximity), and as the core infrastructure is already in place (dams and/or man-made conduits and canals), there would be minimal environmental impact due to the addition of a hydropower unit.      

The development of low-cost, integrated hydropower turbine-generator sets capable of delivering cost-competitive electricity from these resources and within these head ranges is critical to fully exploit this emerging global opportunity.   The following criteria are considered essential design elements in this regard:

•  Modular, self-contained units:  hydropower turbine-generator units should be relatively lightweight and be designed to be readily packaged to ease shipment and installation upon delivery. 
•  Variable Speed:  High efficiency across a range of flows.
•  Cost Competitive:  Capital costs at full-scale production runs of less than $2k/kW, and an LCOE of $0.06/kW-hr or less:  Systems must be able to compete with local hurdle rates.
•  Minimize costs of manufacturing, operations and maintenance, and repair:  The application of advanced materials and advanced manufacturing techniques to maximize the efficiency of unit production; and improve performance, survivability, and reparability of hydro turbine generator sets should yield cost-competitive, high performance systems with broad applicability.  
•  Ecologically non-disruptive:  turbine/generator units should not have a significantly deleterious effect on marine life compared to the existing resource and infrastructure.

The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, on behalf of EERE intends to issue a FOA titled, “Water Power Manufacturing”. NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent. Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA. It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange no later than April 2014.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Solar Energy Technologies Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled, “Solar Manufacturing Technology 2 (SolarMat 2)”.

This FOA supports the development and implementation of innovative technologies that will create competitive advantage for domestic solar energy technology manufacturers and manufacturers in the solar supply chain.  The total federal funding will be approximately $25M with a minimum 50% awardee cost share required.  Projects are expected to be funded with a maximum award level of $5M.

Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent.  Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA.  It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange January 2014.

It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange February 2014.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Low Temperature Mineral Recovery Program.” EERE's objective in this FOA is to promote the advancement of thermal energy processes capable of converting geothermal heat sources into power, in conjunction with the development or exploitation of technologies capable of capturing, concentrating, and/or purifying valuable materials contained within geothermal brines to economically extract resources that can provide additional revenue streams to geothermal operators. This targeted initiative of the GTO focuses on strategic mineral extraction as a path to optimize the value stream of low-to-moderate temperature resources.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to solicit feedback from utilities (investor-owned, municipal, and electric cooperative), the solar industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to the net valuation of solar photovoltaics (PV) and innovative cost-effective distributed solar PV deployment models.  EERE is specifically interested in information on the net benefits and costs of the electricity and services distributed solar PV provides (both internal and external to the transaction), including the benefits and costs distributed solar PV delivers to and receives from the electric grid.  EERE is also interested in information on emerging solar deployment models (e.g., alternative regulatory designs, shared and community solar), which can help expand access to distributed solar PV generation and grow market-based opportunities for solar deployment.  This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).  EERE is not accepting applications.

All responses to this RFI must be provided as an attachment (in Microsoft Word format) to an email message addressed to NetValueSolarRFI@go.doe.gov. Responses must be received no later than 05:00PM ET on 2/28/14.

This funding opportunity seeks to support regional, state, tribal, and locally-driven efforts to develop multi-year solar deployment plans that will help provide business certainty and establish a clear path for the next five to ten years of solar deployment. Specifically, this FOA is intended to enable replicable multi-year strategies that spur significant solar deployment, drive down solar soft costs, support local economic development efforts, and address the potential challenges arising from increased solar penetration on the electrical grid. Awardees are expected to convene stakeholder processes to develop their plan, and subgroups could address specific topics such as the net benefits and costs of solar electricity (to and from the grid), and/or develop solar deployment programs including, but not limited to, commercial property assessed clean energy financing, shared solar, and/or incorporating solar within their emergency response plans. 

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 (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov ). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov ) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

THE WEBINAR & TRANSCRIPT OF WEBINAR FOR

APPLICANTS IS AVAILABLE BELOW IN FOA DOCUMENTS 

The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the Wind & Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO), on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), intends to issue a FOA titled, “Competitive Marine and Hydrokinetic (MHK) Demonstrations at the Navy's Wave Energy Test Site (WETS)”.

Testing, evaluation, and comparison of multiple close to full-scale wave energy conversion (WEC) systems will help industry identify and focus on the most promising device archetypes.  This FOA intends to support the deployment of two WEC systems for a period of approximately one year at water depths of approximately 60 and 80 meters at the Navy’s WETS in Kaneohe, HI, for comparison of performance, reliability, and levelized cost of energy (LCOE).

NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent.  EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions. Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA. It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange in the second quarter of calendar year 2014.  All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change.

Advanced building technologies and systems can contribute to the cost-effective delivery of new buildings and retrofits that significantly lower building energy consumption.  DOE seeks to fund demonstration and deployment activities for technologies that are ready for market adoption but that may be underutilized due to market barriers including perception of risk, gaps in information and data on performance as well as cost.  These technologies will offer a high degree of differentiation between current industry solutions, be widely replicable across the building size, sector and application and provide significant energy savings potential (as determined by market opportunity, site savings, and total potential savings at 100% penetration). Funding through this opportunity will enhance and accelerate the deployment and adoption of a broad range of competitively-solicited high impact energy saving technologies as well as new technology integration approaches.  The technical and/or non-technical products of this funding should be deployed for scale up as a part of the award agreement and will enable investment-level decision-making by building owners, investors and operators in order to produce energy savings.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) announces a notice of availability of funds for financial assistance addressing the development, improvement and demonstration of integrated biological or chemical upgrading technology for the production of substitutes for petroleum‐based feedstocks, products and fuels.

EERE seeks diversification of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) portfolio to include a variety of chemical and biological upgrading technologies for the production of a suite of hydrocarbon fuels, fuel intermediates and chemicals (beyond ethanol) to be produced in an integrated fashion from biologically or chemically derived intermediate feed streams, such as but not limited to cellulosic sugars, lignocellulose derivatives, lignin, cellulosic alcohols, bio-solids and biogases. For the purposes of this FOA lignocellulosic sugars will not be allowable fuel intermediates.

The eXCHANGE system is 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 (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in a late submission:

In the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission that results in a late submission, the Applicant should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk &/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@go.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing the submission on behalf of and with the Applicant’s concurrence). DOE will only accept late applications when the Applicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contacted the eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance, and c) has submitted the application through eXCHANGE within 24 hours of the FOA’s posted deadline.

An informational webinar about the Funding Opportunity Announcement and the application process was held on Tuesday, April 22nd at 3:00 Eastern Time. Attendance was not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any Applicant submissions. The link to the audio file of the webinar can be found at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/646269008 . Please note you will need to provide the same registration information as you did for the webinar.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO) is developing a pipeline of high impact, cost-effective, energy saving and underutilized commercial building technologies.  This RFI seeks information regarding the development and maintenance of new and existing tools, specifications, case studies and other resources actively deployed by the Commercial Buildings Integration program.

THIS RFI IS NOT A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA); THEREFORE, DOE IS NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS.

The purpose of this modification is to change the FOA issue date stated in this NOI from 03/31/2014 to 05/07/2014.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Fuel Cell Technologies Office, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Innovations in Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Fuels Technologies.”

The mission of the Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) is to enable the widespread commercialization of a portfolio of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies through applied research, technology development and demonstration, and diverse efforts to overcome institutional and market challenges. Fuel cell systems research and development (R&D) is working to reduce cost and improve durability for fuel cells used in transportation, stationary, and portable applications. Hydrogen fuel R&D continues to improve hydrogen-producing technologies from renewable resources, end use delivery, and lightweight, compact, low-cost storage systems. To accomplish this mission, FCTO has developed a strategic plan, or multi year program plan (http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/mypp) to identify the technical challenges and barriers that need to be overcome. These technical challenges and barriers form the basis for FCTO to issue funding opportunities announcements (FOAs) for financial assistance awards in these specific areas. However, FCTO recognizes that there may be very novel and potentially disruptive ideas that do not necessarily satisfy the requirement of specific FOAs yet still meet the goals and mission of FCTO. The FCTO Incubator Program is intended to identify these potentially impactful ideas that are not addressed in FCTO’s strategic plan or project portfolio. It is NOT intended to fund projects that are incremental improvements to current products or processes or for established work in FCTO’s strategic plan or current portfolio.

It is anticipated that the FOA will be open to any and all impactful ideas which significantly advance the mission of the FCTO.

The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's (EERE), intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled "Alternative Fuel and Advanced Vehicle Deployment Initiatives," to decrease the nation's dependence on petroleum and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by accelerating the deployment of alternative fuels.  This FOA intends to select projects that will create and implement high impact and highly innovative approaches to increase the acceptance and deployment of alternative fuels, within the following areas of interests: 1) Alternative Fuel Vehicle Demonstration and Enhanced Driver Experience Project; 2) Alternative Fuel Training activities for first responders, public safety officials, and critical service providers; and 3) Incorporating Alternative Fuels into Emergency Response and Preparedness Operations. 

NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE.  Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent.  Prospective applicatns to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA.  It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange in April 2014.   

The objective of the Marine and Hydrokinetic (MHK) Research and Development (R&D) University Consortium FOA is to leverage the field R&D expertise and intellectual capital of domestic universities to advance MHK technology in the U.S. in the following strategic opportunity areas:

· Device and/or array operation and maintenance (O&M) logistics development

· High-fidelity resource characterization and/or modeling technique development and validation

· Distributed application device development and techno-economic studies

· Array-specific component technology development (e.g. moorings and foundations, transmission, and other offshore grid components)

· Array performance testing and evaluation

· Novel cost-effective environmental monitoring techniques and instrumentation testing and evaluation

This FOA intends to fund a consortium of two or more domestic universities.  The Prime Applicant must be either a domestic university or a consortium where one (1) domestic university is designated as the Lead.

The eXCHANGE system is currently designed to enforce hard deadlines for 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 (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov).

Please join us for an Informational Webinar on April 24.

Reserve your seat today at: 

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/337127936

Title: Informational Webinar DE-FOA-0001098: Marine & Hydrokinetic (MHK) Research & Development (R&D) University Consortium

Date:  Thursday, April 24, 2014

Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM EDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 8, 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Mac®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.6 or newer
Mobile attendees
Required: iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phone or Android tablet 

This anticipated FOA is to support a university consortium to leverage existing in-situ Research and Development (R&D) expertise to advance U.S. Marine and Hydrokinetic (MHK) technology, while developing intellectual capital for a globally-competitive workforce.  The individual consortium-defined R&D activities pursued in the overall university consortium project will address strategic opportunities in DOE’s MHK technology development portfolio.

In applying, an eligible university consortium must demonstrate capabilities and expertise in R&D to fill strategic opportunities within the Water Power Program’s portfolio including:

•     Logistics development for operations and maintenance (O&M) of devices and arrays in energetic marine environments.

•     Development and validation of efficient high-fidelity resource characterization and/or modeling techniques.

•     Development and techno-economic studies of devices for distributed applications.

•     Component technology development necessary for enabling arrays: e.g. moorings and foundations, transmission, and other offshore grid components.

•     Array performance testing and evaluation.

•     In-water testing and evaluation of new, cost-effective environmental monitoring techniques and instrumentation in energetic marine environments.   

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of DOE's intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. DOE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, DOE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Biological and Chemical Upgrading for Advanced Biofuels and Products”.

This FOA seeks diversification of the BETO portfolio to allow for biological, chemical and hybrid upgrading processes (multi step, chemical and biological) that will broadly encompass pathways found under the BETO Conversion – Biochemical Technology Area. While thermochemical pathways will not be considered, all related new chemical and biological concepts, ideas and approaches will be considered. Allowable biomass feed intermediates for this FOA are cellulosic sugars, lignocellulose derivatives, lignin, cellulosic alcohols, bio-solids and biogases produced through the conversion of organic matter from renewable biomass (excluding syngas).

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. This is a Notice of Intent (NOI) only. EERE may issue a FOA as described herein, may issue a FOA that is significantly different than the FOA described herein, or DOE may not issue a FOA at all.

Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions. NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE.  Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent.  Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA. It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange in April 2014.

The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO), on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), intends to issue a FOA titled "Clean Energy Supply Chain and Manufacturing Competitiveness Analysis for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies" (DE-FOA-0000854).

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE may issue a FOA as described herein, may issue a FOA that is significantly different than the FOA described herein, or DOE may not issue a FOA at all.

NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent. Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA. It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE eXCHANGE in May 2014.

The Fuel Cell Technologies Office is a key component of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) portfolio. EERE seeks to provide clean, safe, secure, affordable, and reliable energy from diverse domestic resources, along with the benefits of increased energy security and reduced criteria pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.

DOE seeks input from interested stakeholders on existing and potential hydrogen contamination detectors and related factors such as performance characteristics, system integration requirements, costs, deployment guidance, and R&D needs.

All responses to this RFI must be provided as an attachment (in Microsoft Word format) to an e-mail message addressed to H2ContaminationRFI@ee.doe.gov. Responses must be received no later than 5:00PM EST on May 19. 2014.

THIS RFI IS NOT A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA); THEREFORE, DOE IS NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. Responses to the RFI will be treated as informational only and will not be viewed as a binding commitment for the respondent to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed. 

The Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) seeks information on mid-Technology Readiness Level (TRL) research and development (R&D) needs, market challenges, supply chain challenges and shared facility needs in addressing advanced manufacturing development challenges impacting clean energy manufacturing.  

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on general issues and topics to the establishment of potential Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institutes.  AMO seeks information through this RFI to understand cross-cutting as well as specific manufacturing challenges that if addressed could provide the underlying motivation for the formation of a manufacturing innovation institute, consistent with the mission of the Department of Energy, the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office (EERE) and AMO.  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 AMOGolden@go.doe.gov  with a subject line “Response to RFI” no later than 5:00pm (EDT) on May 20, 2014.   Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word document (.docx or .doc) of no more than 8 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins as an attachment to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

The objective of this FOA is to develop a comprehensive public database of federal, state, and local policies and incentives, made available and accessible via a state-of-the-art web and mobile interface, on-demand web services and downloadable data feed designed to reach a wide variety of stakeholders including energy professionals and end consumers. DOE anticipates providing $1,500,000 total to one Awardee over a period of up to three years to accomplish the goals of this funding opportunity. This FOA directly supports the goals of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Strategic Program, Analysis.

The Fuel Cell Technologies Office is a key component of the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) portfolio.  EERE seeks to provide clean, safe, secure, affordable, and reliable energy from diverse domestic resources, along with the benefits of increased energy security and reduced criteria pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.   

The Department of Energy seeks feedback from stakeholders for technology validation and deployment activities aimed at ensuring commercial readiness and stimulating commercialization of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies. The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to gather feedback from stakeholders prior to DOE potentially issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

This RFI is not a FOA; therefore, the DOE is not accepting applications for funding regarding this topic at this time.