EERE Funding Opportunity Announcements

The Funding Opportunity Announcement's (FOA) will be issued by the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), the Building Technologies Office (BTO), and the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), in collaboration with the Geothermal Technologies Office, the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office, and the Office of Electricity to equitably address grid edge challenges.

It is anticipated that the FOAs under this Notice of Intent (NOI) will be released individually and may include the following areas of interest:

SETO Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0003331 (STRIVES) to develop and demonstrate technology and market tools for better integration of distributed energy resources including solar, wind, and energy storage.

BTO Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0003136 (Connected Communities) to equitably advance grid-edge solutions for resilient, decarbonized communities including an emphasis on affordable housing communities that have limited availability of distribution capacity for transportation and building electrification.

VTO Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0003344 (SuperTruck Charge) will demonstrate concepts for managed charging at truck depots/hubs and truck stops that alleviate grid capacity challenges.

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

i. Topic Area 1: Scalable Concentrating Solar Collectors

This topic area solicits innovations to decrease the installed costs of solar collectors to $50/m² with high reliability and efficiency over a 30-year lifetime. Heliostat systems, line-focusing collectors, and other novel collector forms are of interest.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Advanced manufacturing
• Automated robotic installation
• Communication and control systems
• Structures and facets
• Solar field analysis tools and standards
• Anti-soiling and cleaning technologies
• Wind and weather impact

ii. Topic Area 2: Scalable Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (sCO₂) Turbomachinery

SETO solicits proposals for RD&D to enable the deployment of sCO₂ turbomachinery for advanced CSP systems. Multiple heat engine and heat pump cycles are of interest to enable cost-effective CST plants coupled with thermal energy storage.

iii. Topic Area 3: Scalable Concentrating Solar-thermal Receivers and Reactors

This topic solicits proposals for novel solar receivers, solar reactors, and improvements to existing solar receiver concepts. Successful receiver or reactor technologies will support the deployment of CST systems that can impact the U.S. market. Targeted outcomes include:

• Development of a complete receiver subsystem with ≥10 MW_th capacity and ≥750 ⁰C outlet temperature that can be integrated and tested with a ≥10 MW_e sCO₂ power cycle.
• Development of a ≥1 MW_th reactor archetype that integrates solar thermal energy with industrial production of chemicals, cement, or minerals. Testing and integration of solar steam or heat with the product of industrial products for scaled up reactor use.
• Enabling near-term cost, reliability, and performance improvements of commercial CST receivers.
• De-risking receiver or reactor concepts to enable novel CST systems which can achieve broad commercial deployment.

Topic Area 1: Scalable Concentrating Solar Collectors

Topic Area 2: Scalable Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (sCO2)

Topic Area 3: Scalable Concentrating Solar-thermal Receivers and Reactors

DOE is compiling a Teaming Partner List to facilitate the formation of project teams for this FOA. The Teaming Partner List allows organizations that may wish to participate on a project to express their interest to other applicants and explore potential partnerships.

The Teaming Partner List will be available on EERE eXCHANGE and will be regularly updated to reflect new teaming partners who provide their organization’s information.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: View the Teaming Partner List by visiting the EERE eXCHANGE homepage and clicking on “Teaming Partners” within the left-hand navigation pane. This page allows users to view published Teaming Partner Lists. To join the Teaming Partner List, submit a request within eXCHANGE. Select the appropriate Teaming Partner List from the drop-down menu and fill in the following information: Investigator Name, Organization Name, Organization Type, Topic Area, Background and Capabilities, Website, Contact Address, Contact Email, and Contact Phone.

DISCLAIMER: By submitting a request to be included on the Teaming Partner List, the requesting organization consents to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating the Teaming Partner List, DOE is not endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise evaluating the qualifications of the individuals and organizations that are identifying themselves for placement on this Teaming Partner List. DOE will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any applicants or requesting organizations for the development of such information.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled “Concentrating Solar Flux to Heat and Power.”

SETO anticipates that the FOA will seek RD&D projects in three topic areas. Technologies in each area may support a variety of concentrating solar-thermal (CST) forms including CSP, SIPH, and high-temperature solar-thermal reactors. Each topic area focuses on scaling and maturing impactful technologies for specified CST subsystems.

This teaming partner list is for DE-FOA-0003296 Topic Area 2, Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES)

A teaming partner list may be used to facilitate the formation of new project teams for the announcement/topic area. The list allows organizations to express their interest and to explore potential partnerships, including representation from Minority Serving Institutions (e.g., Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)/Other Minority Serving Institutions); and partnerships with Minority Business Enterprises, Minority Owned Businesses, Woman Owned Businesses, Veteran Owned Businesses, or tribal nations.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: Select the appropriate Teaming Partner List from the drop-down menu and fill in the following information: Investigator Name, Organization Name, Organization Type, Topic Area, Background and Capabilities, Website, Contact Address, Contact Email, and Contact Phone.

DISCLAIMER: By submitting a request to be included on the Teaming Partner List, the requesting organization consents to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating the Teaming Partner List, DOE is not endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise evaluating the qualifications of the individuals and organizations that are identifying themselves for placement on this Teaming Partner List. DOE will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any applicants or requesting organizations for the development of such information.

There is no Teaming List for Topic Area 1.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0003296 on behalf of the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO). GTO actively pursues research, development, and demonstration projects to facilitate technology validation and demonstration, reduce cost, and improve performance of geothermal technologies. The economic viability of geothermal projects across the resource spectrum depends on developing and improving enabling technologies and detailed understanding of the subsurface, including geologic qualities, permeability, and other attributes.

This funding opportunity comprises two topic areas with separate objectives and technical focus.

Topic Area 1: High-Temperature Tools for Well Integrity Evaluation

Topic Area 1 seeks applications to address ​​wellbore tools and technology to supplement and advance beyond currently available off-the-shelf (OTS) solutions provided by the oil and gas industry for cement and casing evaluation. Current solutions are suitable for the upper end of the oil and gas industry’s temperature needs but are not generally considered adequate for use in hotter, EGS systems.

As advancements and novel methods in casing and cementing are implemented, a critical, early element of success is evaluating their efficacy. Given the harsh conditions often encountered in geothermal borehole environments, obtaining quality inspection and confirmation information can be a costly and difficult task. The projects selected under Topic Area 1 of this FOA will seek to address the availability of downhole cement and casing evaluation tools for use in high temperature and hostile geothermal wellbores.

Topic Area 2: Utilization of Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES) Technology for Decarbonization of Industrial Processes

Topic Area 2 seeks to demonstrate low-temperature (<130^◦ C) RTES technology with applications to industrial processes such as melting plastic, removing moisture, treating chemicals, and others. RTES takes advantage of large subsurface storage capacities, geothermal gradients, and thermal insulation associated with deep geologic formations to store thermal energy to be extracted in the future for beneficial use on a variety of timescales.

The activities funded through this FOA will advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and achieve a net-zero-emissions economy by 2050. Strategic goals for this FOA are derived from DOE’s Enhanced Geothermal Shot and its associated roadmap, and GTO’s GeoVision Roadmap and Multi-Year Program Plan.

Questions regarding the FOA must be submitted to HT.Tools.RTES.FOA@ee.doe.gov

The Teaming Partner List will remain open and will be updated at least weekly until the close of the Full Application period, to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Applicants must submit a Letter of Intent by 5:00pm ET on the due date listed in the FOA to be eligible to submit a Full Application. Letter of Intent and Full Applications will only be accepted through EERE eXCHANGE.

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

The eXCHANGE system is designed to enforce hard deadlines for Letter of Intentand 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.

Modification 0002: The purpose of this modification is to:
1) Update the expected timeframe for first round award negotiations to 11/2023.
2) Correct the SOPO page limit to 12 pages.

Modification 0001: The purpose of this modification is to:
1) Change the full application deadline date to 06/16/2023.

Awards made under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will be funded, in whole or in part, with funds appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also more commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

The BIL is a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure, which will grow a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable economy through enhancing U.S. competitiveness, driving the creation of good-paying union jobs, and ensuring stronger access to economic, environmental, and other benefits for disadvantaged communities. The BIL appropriates more than $62 billion to the Department of Energy (DOE) to invest in American manufacturing and workers; expand access to energy efficiency; deliver reliable, clean and affordable power to more Americans; and deploy the technologies of tomorrow through clean energy demonstrations.

As part of and in addition to upgrading and modernizing infrastructure, DOE’s BIL investments will address the climate crisis and support efforts to build a clean an equitable energy economy that achieves zero carbon electricity by 2035, and puts the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050 to benefit all Americans.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Geothermal Technologies Office’s (GTO) 2022 Enhanced Geothermal Shot^TM analysis, building on the 2019 GeoVision report, concludes that with aggressive technology improvements, in areas relevant to enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), geothermal power generation could provide 90 gigawatts-electric (GWe) firm, flexible power to the U.S. grid by 2050.

Enhanced Geothermal Systems are engineered geothermal reservoirs, created where there is hot rock (175-300+°C), but little to no natural permeability and/or fluid saturation. During EGS development, subsurface permeability is enhanced via safe, well-engineered reservoir stimulation processes that re-open pre-existing fractures, create new ones, or a combination of both. These open conduits increase permeability and allow fluid to circulate throughout the hot rock. The fluid transports the otherwise stranded heat to the surface where clean, renewable electricity can be generated with current power generation technologies.

Relative to other geothermal resources, EGS have the potential to provide the most growth in the electric sector, and in the GeoVision scenarios, support noteworthy growth within the non-electric sector for district heating and other direct-use applications. This potential expands if superhot EGS resources (>375°C) are accounted for. Without significant and sustained investment in EGS technology development and demonstrations to refine our ability to access and develop these resources, however, the 90 GWe target will not be achieved.

The Topic Areas addressed under this FOA are:

Topic Area 1: EGS Proximal Demonstrations: EGS demonstrations utilizing existing infrastructure proximal to existing geothermal / hydrothermal development with immediate potential for electrical power production.

Topic Area 2: EGS Green Field Demonstrations: Sites with no existing geothermal development and potential for shallow sedimentary, igneous and/or mixed metamorphic rock EGS with near-term electrical power production potential. ​

Topic Area 3: Super-hot / Supercritical EGS Demonstrations: Super-hot/ supercritical EGS demonstrations located at well-characterized sites with existing well(s) in place and with near-term electrical power production potential.

Applications for Topic Area 4 will not be accepted at this time.

Please see the 'Full FOA Document' in the DOCUMENTS section below.

Teaming Partner list: Any organization that would like to be included on this list should submit the following information: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, Brief Description of Capabilities, and Area of Interest. Interested parties should email the information to BIL_EGSPilotDemos@ee.doe.gov with the subject line “Teaming Partner Information.”

Applicants must submit a Concept Paper by 5:00pm ET on the due date listed in the FOA to be eligible to submit a Full Application. Concept Papers and Full Applications will only be accepted through EERE eXCHANGE.

This request for information (RFI) is intended to inform the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) on specific research, development, and demonstration opportunities to enable near term deployment of receivers for concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) plants, and reactors for CSP industries.

To build a clean and equitable energy economy and address the climate crisis, SETO invests in innovative research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects that work to drive down costs of solar technologies and develop next-generation products ready for commercialization. This RFI seeks information to help advance the goals of achieving carbon-pollution-free electricity by 2035, and to “deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050.

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

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to invest in innovative research and development (R&D) that accelerates the large-scale development and deployment of solar technologies to support an equitable transition to a decarbonized electricity system by 2035 and decarbonized energy sector by 2050. Achieving this goal will support the nationwide effort to meet the threat of climate change and ensure that all Americans benefit from the transition to a clean energy economy.

This Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS) FOA solicits seedling R&D projects for both photovoltaic and concentrating solar thermal power technologies. The funding opportunity is designed to streamline the application process and to encourage applicants with a diverse range of backgrounds.

This FOA is expected to be re-issued on an annual basis and will provide applicants the opportunity to submit new applications for consideration. EERE intends to modify this FOA at a future time to solicit applications for subsequent fiscal years.

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The current issuance of this FOA solicits applications for fiscal year 2024.

Modification 0001

This modification incorporates the following changes:

Section I.B: Revised Performance Goal/Target Outcomes for Subtopic 1B.

Section III.E.i: Replaced Value/Funding and Cost Share sections with Section III.E.i.c. Funding, Cost Share, and Subaward with FFRDCs.

Additional revisions made throughout to align with the newest FOA template. Please download and review the FOA document for complete details. The Modifications table begins on page 2.

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The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing, on behalf of the Building Technologies Office (BTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled “Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) – 2024”.

The 2024 BENEFIT FOA will invest up to $30M (subject to appropriations) across four topic areas:

Topic 1: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning and Water Heating

Technologies with improved materials, components, equipment design, and engineering, lower cost manufacturing processes, and easier installation.

Topic 2: Innovative, Replicable, and Low-Cost Roof and Attic Retrofits

Technologies for affordable and scalable roof and attic retrofits that improve energy efficiency and address air and water infiltration.

Topic 3: Building Resilience and Capacity Constraints

Novel approaches to maintain essential loads during blackouts and add power capacity to buildings without the need for major infrastructure upgrades; localized thermal management systems and thermally resilient building envelopes to provide cooling and overheating protection against extreme heat events.

Topic 4: Commercial Lighting Retrofit Advancements

Low-cost, high-quality retrofit solutions for lagging sectors in energy-efficient lighting adoption (schools, certain commercial buildings).

DOE is compiling a Teaming Partner List to facilitate the formation of project teams for this FOA. The Teaming Partner List allows organizations that may wish to participate on a project to express their interest to other applicants and explore potential partnerships. Please see the Teaming List section of the FOA document for more information.

EERE eXCHANGE is designed to enforce the deadlines specified in this FOA. The “Apply” and “Submit” buttons will automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. Should applicants experience problems with EERE eXCHANGE, the following information may be helpful.

Applicants that experience issues with submission PRIOR to the FOA deadline: In the event that an applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the applicant should contact the EERE eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (EERE-eXCHANGESupport@hq.doe.gov). The EERE eXCHANGE helpdesk and/or the EERE eXCHANGE system administrators will assist applicants in resolving issues.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO). This FOA will advance the Biden Administration’s goals to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and to “deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050” to the benefit of all Americans. The research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities to be funded under this FOA will support the government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving innovations that can lead to the largescale deployment of clean energy technologies.

Specifically, this FOA will implement two approaches to energy storage in concentrated solar-thermal (CST) systems: thermochemical storage via solar fuel production and local thermal energy storage (TES) for dispatchable energy. The two technologies will support the government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving the innovation that can lead to the deployment of clean energy technologies, which are critical for climate protection.

MOD 00001:  Modified the Full Application Deadline and expected date for Selections Notifications; see the cover page of the FOA.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) and the Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled "Marine Energy University Foundational R&D."

This FOA supports EERE’s goals of increasing energy affordability, domestic economic prosperity, and energy security while enhancing the reliability and resiliency of the U.S. power grid. To achieve these goals, WPTO and WETO will fund research related to marine energy renewable energy technologies under this FOA. Marine energy is inclusive of energy from waves, tides, currents, and/or ocean thermal gradients.

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

1. Open-Source Marine Energy Converter (MEC) Test Platforms to Produce Open-Source Data
2. Sustainable & Scalable Offshore Wind, Marine Energy, and Aquaculture
3. Undergraduate Senior Design and/or Research Project Development
4. Open Topic

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

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to invest in innovative research and development (R&D) that accelerates the large-scale development and deployment of solar technologies to support an equitable transition to a decarbonized electricity system by 2035 and decarbonized energy sector by 2050. Achieving this goal will support the nationwide effort to meet the threat of climate change and ensure that all Americans benefit from the transition to a clean energy economy.

This Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS) FOA solicits seedling R&D projects for both photovoltaic and concentrating solar thermal power technologies. The funding opportunity is designed to streamline the application process and to encourage applicants with a diverse range of backgrounds.

This FOA is expected to be re-issued on an annual basis and will provide applicants the opportunity to submit new applications for consideration. EERE intends to modify this FOA at a future time to solicit applications for subsequent fiscal years.

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The current issuance of this FOA solicits applications for fiscal year 2023.

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**DOE expects to make the announcement on Selections for the FY23 FOA in early January 2024**

MOD 0001

Changes include updates to the following sections:

1. Section I.B. on page 36, within Topic 4: Technology Focus, correct the NAICS code reference: Change “basic organic chemicals (NAICS 325519)” to “all other organic chemicals (NAICS 325199)”.

2. Section III.F. on page 64, within Limitation on Number of CPs and full apps eligible for review, change language allowing for multiple CPs and applications to be submitted to the FOA by a single entity.

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This Funding Opportunity (FOA), issued by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, on behalf of the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) will advance the strategies identified in the Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap and Industrial Heat Energy Earthshot and will focus on cross-sector approaches for industrial decarbonization (such as thermal processing, low-carbon fuels utilization, and exploratory cross-sector topics), along with high-GHG-emitting subsectors (such as chemicals, iron and steel, food and beverage, cement and concrete, and forest products). By accelerating the development and adoption of sustainable technologies that increase efficiency and eliminate industrial GHG emissions, the research, development, and prototype or pilot-scale technology validation and demonstration activities to be funded under this FOA will contribute to a clean and equitable energy economy, bolster the technological and economic competitiveness of domestic manufacturing, and boost the viability and competitiveness of U.S. industrial technology exports.

This FOA is part of an integrated industrial decarbonization technology development strategy for DOE’s basic and applied research offices. Rooted in the principles identified in the 2022 Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap, DOE is building an innovation pipeline to accelerate the development and adoption of industrial decarbonization technologies with investments spanning foundational science; research, development, and demonstrations (RD&D); and technical assistance and workforce development. DOE’s highly coordinated RD&D investments – leveraging resources and expertise from the Offices of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), Nuclear Energy (NE), and Science (SC) – are designed to achieve deep decarbonization across the industrial sector, targeting both industry-specific innovations and crosscutting technologies. This technology development strategy complements the demonstration and deployment efforts led by DOE's Offices of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) and Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) and the Loan Programs Office (LPO). This FOA and its associated projects are distinct from any existing or forthcoming efforts funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law or Inflation Reduction Act, including activities related to Industrial Demonstration Projects..

The topics included are:

Topic 1: Decarbonizing Industrial Heat

Topic 2: Low-Carbon Fuels Utilization R&D

Topic 3a: Enabling Flexible Industrial Energy Use

Topic 3b: Enhanced Thermal Conductivity Materials

Topic 4: Decarbonizing Chemicals

Topic 5: Decarbonizing Iron and Steel

Topic 6: Decarbonizing Food and Beverage Products

Topic 7: Decarbonizing Cement and Concrete

EERE eXCHANGE is designed to enforce the deadlines specified in this FOA. The “Apply” and “Submit” buttons will automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. Should applicants experience problems with EERE eXCHANGE, the following information may be helpful.

Applicants that experience issues with submission PRIOR to the FOA deadline: In the event that an applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the applicant should contact the EERE eXCHANGE helpdesk for assistance (EERE-eXCHANGESupport@hq.doe.gov). The EERE eXCHANGE helpdesk and/or the EERE eXCHANGE system administrators will assist applicants in resolving issues.

This request for information (RFI) is intended to inform the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) on the specific research, development, and demonstration opportunities to enable cost-effective production of hydrogen, ammonia, liquid fuels—such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel—and solid fuels using concentrating solar-thermal energy.

In addition, SETO seeks information on thermal energy storage (TES) for concentrating solar power and concentrating solar-thermal (industrial) applications. While TES is an integral feature of concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) generation, other applications of TES include energy supply for industrial process heat. Multiple modes of TES include sensible heat, latent heat, and thermochemical energy storage. Sensible heat TES using molten nitrate salt is currently used in commercial CSP plants. High temperature sensible heat storage in tanks of large size have had inconsistent operational success. Future generation CSP plants may make use of particles or rock to store thermal energy as they do not suffer from temperature limitations. This RFI will focus on improvements to various TES technologies appropriate for CSP integration for both power and industrial decarbonization applications.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy intends to issue, on behalf of the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO), a funding opportunity announcement titled “IEDO FY23 Multi-topic FOA.”

This FOA will advance the strategies identified in the Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap and Industrial Heat Energy Earthshot and will focus on cross-sector approaches for industrial decarbonization (such as thermal processing, , low-carbon fuels utilization, and exploratory cross-sector topics), along with high-GHG-emitting subsectors (such as chemicals, iron and steel, food and beverage, cement and concrete, and forest products). By accelerating the development and adoption of sustainable technologies that increase efficiency and eliminate industrial GHG emissions, the research, development, and prototype or pilot-scale technology validation and demonstration activities to be funded under this FOA will contribute to a clean and equitable energy economy, bolster the technological and economic competitiveness of domestic manufacturing, and boost the viability and competitiveness of U.S. industrial technology exports.

This FOA is part of an integrated industrial decarbonization technology development strategy for DOE’s basic and applied research offices. Rooted in the principles identified in the 2022 Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap, DOE is building an innovation pipeline to accelerate the development and adoption of industrial decarbonization technologies with investments spanning foundational science; research, development, and demonstrations (RD&D); and technical assistance and workforce development. DOE’s highly coordinated RD&D investments – leveraging resources and expertise from the Offices of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), Nuclear Energy (NE), and Science (SC) – are designed to achieve deep decarbonization across the industrial sector, targeting both industry-specific innovations and crosscutting technologies. This technology development strategy complements the demonstration and deployment efforts led by DOE's Offices of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) and Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) and the Loan Programs Office (LPO).

This notice of intent is issued so that interested parties are aware of EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All 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.

EERE plans to issue the FOA in or about March 2023 via the EERE eXCHANGE website: https://eere-eXCHANGE.energy.gov/. If applicants wish to receive official notifications and information from EERE regarding this FOA, they should register in EERE eXCHANGE. When the FOA is released, applications will be accepted only through EERE eXCHANGE.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing, on behalf of the Building Technologies Office (BTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled “Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) – 2022/2023”.

The 2022/2023 BENEFIT FOA will invest up to $15.35M - $45.2M across 5 topic areas to allow all interested parties to research and develop high-impact, cost-effective technologies and practices that will reduce carbon emissions, improve flexibility and resilience, as well as lower energy costs.

Topic 1: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning and Water Heating: Technologies with improved materials, components, equipment design and engineering, lower cost manufacturing processes, and easier installation.

Topic 2: Thermal Energy Storage (TES): Development and validation of next generation plug-and-play TES products with improved cost and performance and ease of installation to accelerate adoption of TES in HVAC applications.

Topic 3: Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Development, validation, and demonstration of product innovations that reduce the cost of BESS integration, improve the coordination between distributed BESS and the electrical grid, as well as help meet building decarbonization targets.

Topic 4: Plug Loads/Lighting: Integration of plug load controls with connected lighting systems in commercial buildings with minimal cost and complexity to support building electrification.

Topic 5: Opaque Building Envelope: Development, validation, and demonstration of high-impact, affordable. opaque building envelope retrofit and diagnostic technologies.

BTO is compiling a “teaming” partner list to facilitate widespread participation in this FOA. This list allows organizations with expertise in the topics to express their interest to potential applicants and to explore potential partnerships. Please see the Teaming List section of the FOA document for more information.

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 and/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.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@ee.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.

AMMTO and GTO are jointly issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement of Lithium Extraction and Conversion from Geothermal Brines. This funding opportunity will spur the development of domestic lithium supply and refinement capacity to secure America’s clean energy supply chains and increase U.S. manufacturing competitiveness abroad.

Topic Areas:

(1) Field Validation of Lithium Hydroxide Production from Geothermal Brines

(2) Applied Research & Development for Direct Lithium Extraction from Geothermal Brines.

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 and/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.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@ee.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 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 “Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) - 2022”.

This potential FOA is expected to support the development, validation, and demonstration of novel building technologies and retrofit practices that have significant potential for equitable carbon savings through building electrification, energy efficiency, and demand flexibility. The FOA will also enhance building and grid resilience, affordability of efficient technologies and practices, and ensure environmental justice and inclusion of underserved communities.

It is anticipated that the FOA may include the following Areas of Interest:

• Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and Water Heating (WH)
• Thermal Energy Storage (TES)
• Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
• Plug Loads/Lighting
• Opaque Building Envelope

BTO is compiling a “teaming” partner list to facilitate widespread participation in this FOA. This list allows organizations with expertise in the topics to express their interest to potential applicants and to explore potential partnerships. Please see the Teaming List section of the NOI document for more information.

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 Advanced Manufacturing Office and Geothermal Technologies Office, a joint Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Lithium Extraction & Conversion from Geothermal Brines”.

Through this FOA, EERE seeks to address gaps in domestic supply chains for lithium batteries for electric vehicles and stationary storage. The U.S. currently has limited production of lithium from domestic sources and also lacks domestic capabilities to refine materials needed to support component manufacturing – including lithium hydroxide needed for lithium battery cathode production. Geothermal brines have proven to be a sustainable resource of critical materials including lithium. Direct lithium extraction from geothermal brines represents an opportunity to produce lithium hydroxide from domestic sources in a safe and environmentally friendly way.

The goals of this FOA are to:

• Enable environmentally and socially responsible domestic manufacturing of battery-grade (i.e., high purity) lithium hydroxide from geothermal brines;

• Diversify the domestic supply of lithium hydroxide;

• Validate and demonstrate domestic pilot plants and related technologies to support the transition to U.S. manufacturing; and

• Mature nascent technologies, processes, and methods to improve treatment of direct lithium extraction influent and effluent streams.

DOE is compiling a “teaming” partner list to facilitate widespread participation in this FOA. This list allows organizations with expertise in the topics to express their interest to potential applicants and to explore potential partnerships. Please see the Teaming List section of the NOI document for more information.

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 Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) is seeking information to better understand the barriers to deploying onsite clean energy and storage technologies at industrial facilities and pathways for accelerated adoption. These technologies include, but are not limited to, solar photovoltaic (PV), solar thermal, wind power, renewable fuels, geothermal, bioenergy, battery storage, and thermal storage technologies. This request for information (RFI) is focused on understanding the current state of knowledge and uptake of these technologies by industrial energy users, opportunities and barriers for technology integration at industrial facilities, existing technical assistance and resources available for technology evaluation and deployment, and pathways to accelerate the adoption of onsite clean energy technologies.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, utilities, and other stakeholders on issues related to the deployment of onsite clean energy and storage technologies, including solar, solar thermal, wind power, renewable fuels, geothermal, battery storage, and thermal storage, at industrial facilities. EERE is specifically interested in information on the key barriers that manufacturers are encountering during technology evaluation and implementation of clean energy projects. EERE is also interested in the current state of knowledge and uptake of onsite clean energy technologies, existing technical assistance and resources for project evaluation and deployment, and potential pathways for accelerating the integration of clean energy technologies in the industrial sector. This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). EERE is not accepting applications.

Attention: This FOA has been updated. Please see the ‘Full FOA Mod 0001 Document’ in the Documents section below.

The Geothermal Energy from Oil and gas Demonstrated Engineering (GEODE) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits an administrator to establish and lead a consortium committed to facilitating collaborative research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) focused on realizing technology improvements and transfer from oil and gas, deploying geothermal energy nationwide, evaluating and recommending ways to address regulatory and permitting barriers, and developing opportunities in the geothermal sector for the skilled oil and gas workforce.

The U.S. geothermal resource is vast, however, only a small portion of it has been developed due to the unique technological challenges associated with geothermal environments and a regulatory system that requires long lead times to secure needed operational permits. The mature, domestic oil and gas industry can provide a great deal of benefit on overcoming the remaining barriers in geothermal technology. The Geothermal Technologies Office seeks to develop a means through which the oil and gas and geothermal industries can collaborate and undertake beneficial research and development aimed at addressing the challenges in the geothermal industry and facilitating increased deployment of geothermal technologies nationwide.

Therefore, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking an organization to function as a consortium administrator that can:

Attention: This FOA has been updated. Please see the ‘Full FOA Mod 0001 Document’ in the Documents section below.

Please note: 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 (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov).

Modification 00001: Extended the Full Application Submission Deadline from 12/6/2022 to 12/16/2022 5:00pmET. Updated the FOA timeline on the FOA cover page to accommodate this change. Updated Section IV.E.v – Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO) to show maximum number of pages for SOPO (5 pages).

Background and Context

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing, on behalf of the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO), this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). Awards made under this FOA will be funded, in whole or in part, with funds appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also more commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

Under Section 41007(c)(1), the BIL provides funding to carry out research, development, demonstration, and commercialization activities relating to solar energy technologies, which includes conducting workforce development activities.

The activities to be funded under this FOA support the broader government-wide approach to addressing the climate crisis and maximize the benefits of the clean energy transition as the nation works to curb the climate crisis, empower workers, and advance environmental justice.

Program Purpose

This FOA supports the administration goals laid out above by supporting the development of workforce programs and partnerships that will facilitate the continued deployment of solar energy technologies, while supporting an inclusive workforce with opportunities for career advancement, including through union membership. As part of the whole-of-government approach to advance equity and encourage worker organizing and collective bargaining, this FOA and any related activities will seek to encourage meaningful engagement and participation of labor unions and underserved communities and underrepresented groups, including consultation with Tribal Nations.

Areas of Interest

SETO will consider and evaluate a variety of multi-stakeholder high-road training partnership proposals under this FOA. Projects should primarily relate to PV solar deployment and associated careers including in installation, system design, operations and maintenance (O&M), electrical work, project management, sales, and business operations. Proposals focused on manufacturing for solar PV modules and other equipment will be considered, but is not expected to be the primary area of focus for the funding program. Proposals related to CSP or other solar-thermal heating systems will not be considered.

Modification 0001: The purpose of this modification is to:

1.) Change date of EERE selection notification to April 2023

Update: Given the recent addition of the current and pending support requirement, DOE is being very flexible on what current and pending support documentation, if any, applicants submit for the application stage. No applicant will be deemed ineligible based on the submission or lack of submission of current and pending support documentation. For selectees under this FOA, DOE may designate covered individuals for the current and pending reporting requirements during award negotiations.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Community Geothermal Heating and Cooling Design and Deployment” is issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO).

Building a clean and equitable energy economy and addressing the climate crisis is a top priority of the Biden Administration. This FOA will advance the Biden Administration’s goals to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and to “deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050 to the benefit of all Americans. The Department of Energy is committed to pushing the frontiers of science and engineering, catalyzing clean energy jobs through research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D), and ensuring environmental justice and inclusion of underserved communities.

The overall FOA objective is to support the formation of U.S. community coalitions that will develop, design, and install community geothermal heating and cooling systems that supply at least 25% of the overall community heating or heating and cooling demand in communities where current fuel use to heat or heat and cool homes and/or businesses results in increased greenhouse gas emissions. An overarching goal of this FOA is to support community coalitions seeking to deploy geothermal systems that can reduce the disproportionate shares of energy costs and associated environmental contaminants to underserved populations in a diverse set of communities. Target applicants are anticipated to be U.S. community coalitions. Coalitions can be from urban, suburban, rural, remote, island, or islanded communities where geothermal technology can reduce dependence on fossil fuels such as natural gas or heating oil.

Additional FOA objectives include:

Please see the 'Full FOA Document' in the DOCUMENTS section below.

Attention: 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 (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov).

Update: Given the recent addition of the current and pending support requirement, DOE is being very flexible on what current and pending support documentation, if any, applicants submit for the application stage. No applicant will be deemed ineligible based on the submission or lack of submission of current and pending support documentation. For selectees under this FOA, DOE may designate covered individuals for the current and pending reporting requirements during award negotiations.

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 "Community Geothermal Heating and Cooling Design and Deployment."

The FOA is expected to support community-scale objectives in defined geographic areas. Such objectives include:

1) Deploying new or retrofitted geothermal, or geothermal-hybrid, district heating and cooling systems in districts, neighborhoods, and communities

2) Identifying solutions for environmental justice conditions, such as cumulative environmental pollution and other hazards; underserved and disadvantaged communities; and community members who have historically experienced vulnerability due to climate change impacts

3) Assisting communities to develop career and technical education and workforce transition initiatives to design, install, inspect, operate and maintain new energy systems such as geothermal heating and cooling

4) Developing case studies about projects, including technical and economic data, to illustrate how projects can be replicated by communities throughout the United States

5) Publishing data and information about geothermal district heating and cooling system deployment to demonstrate the success of such systems in a range of environments and geographies

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

See attached NOI document for further details.

This is a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the U.S. Department of Energy on behalf of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO). The intent of this RFI is to obtain feedback on Section 41007 (a) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which authorizes activities under section 615(d) (Enhanced Geothermal Systems Demonstrations) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17194(d)). Specifically, this RFI seeks input on: 1. Section 41007 (a) Enhanced Geothermal Systems Pilot Demonstrations Structure and Implementation Strategy and Requirements, 2. Employment: Expanding Union Jobs and Effective Workforce Development, 3. Equity, Environmental and Energy Justice (EEEJ) Priorities, and 4. Build America, Buy American Requirements. Information collected from this RFI will be used by DOE for planning purposes to develop the EGS Pilot Demonstrations FOA. The information collected will not be published.

Request for Information Response Guidelines

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to BIL_EGSPilotDemos@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on 5/13/22. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no more than 5 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted. Please identify your answers by responding to a specific question or topic if applicable. Respondents may answer as many or as few questions as they wish. EERE will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. A response to this RFI will not be viewed as a binding commitment to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed. Respondents are requested to provide the following information at the start of their response to this RFI:• Company / institution name;• Company / institution contact;• Contact's address, phone number, and e-mail address.

Disclaimer and Important Notes

This RFI is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA); therefore, EERE is not accepting applications at this time. EERE may issue a FOA in the future based on or related to the content and responses to this RFI; however, EERE may also elect not to issue a FOA. There is no guarantee that a FOA will be issued as a result of this RFI. Responding to this RFI does not provide any advantage or disadvantage to potential applicants if EERE chooses to issue a FOA regarding the subject matter. Final details, including the anticipated award size, quantity, and timing of EERE funded awards, will be subject to Congressional appropriations and direction. Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is intended to be used by the Government on a non-attribution basis for planning and strategy development; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. Your response to this notice will be treated as information only. EERE will review and consider all responses in its formulation of program strategies for the identified materials of interest that are the subject of this request. EERE will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that EERE is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Responses to this RFI do not bind EERE to any further actions related to this topic.

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

This lab call is being issued as part of the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Technology Transitions, the Office of Electricity, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Building Technologies Office, Geothermal Technologies Office, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, Solar Energy Technologies Office, Water Power Technologies Office, and Wind Energy Technologies Office, as well as the Office of Nuclear Energy.

This call solicits proposals from National Laboratory Technology Transfer Offices, in collaboration with partners across the DOE National Laboratory Complex, to develop and implement programming to facilitate an improved and more impactful lab commercialization process.

EERE National Laboratory Guiding Principles require all offices to pursue a merit review of direct-funded National Laboratory work. In line with these principles, the Building Technologies Office (BTO) is issuing this Lab Call for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY 2022) funding. This Lab Call solicits both new and continuing work proposals in six technology areas:

• AREA 1: HVAC&R and Water Heating
• AREA 2: Thermal Energy Storage
• AREA 3: Windows
• AREA 4: Supervisory Building Controls
• AREA 5: Building Electric Appliances, Devices, and Systems
• AREA 6: Building Energy Modeling

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to invest in innovative research and development (R&D) that accelerates the large-scale development and deployment of solar technologies to support an equitable transition to a decarbonized electricity system by 2035 and decarbonized energy sector by 2050. Achieving this goal will support the nationwide effort to meet the threat of climate change and ensure that all Americans benefit from the transition to a clean energy economy.

This Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS) FOA solicits seedling R&D projects for both photovoltaic and concentrating solar thermal power technologies. The funding opportunity is designed to streamline the application process and to encourage a applicants with a diverse range of backgrounds.

Modification 000001 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 000001 are highlighted in yellow.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to invest in innovative research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) that accelerates the large-scale development and deployment of solar technology to support an equitable transition to a decarbonized electricity system by 2035 and decarbonized energy sector by 2050. Achieving this goal will support the nationwide effort to meet the threat of climate change and ensure that all Americans benefit from the transition to a clean energy economy. To support these objectives, applications are solicitied for two Topic Areas:

Topic Area 1: Concentrating Solar Thermal for Industrial Decarbonization

The focus of this topic is to enable concentrating solar thermal (CST) energy generation coupled with thermal energy storage (TES) to be integrated with high-temperature process technologies to produce economically important products, like steel, cement, ammonia, fuels, and other chemicals and fuels.

Topic Area 2: Concentrating Solar-thermal Particle Technologies for Generation 3 CSP and Beyond (Gen3++)

This topic area builds on learnings from the Solar Energy Technologies Office's Gen3 CSP program. Within the Gen3 CSP program, systems using particles as the heat transfer media have been shown to be viable for operation at temepratures avove 700°C. Responsive applications to this Topic Area will describe the development of particle based CST technologies.

Modification 000002 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 000002 are highlighed in green.

Modification 000001 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 000001 are highlighted in yellow

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO). The mission of GTO is to research, develop, and validate innovative and cost-competitive technologies and tools to locate, access, and develop geothermal resources in the United States, enabling the deployment of carbon-free, flexible geothermal energy in both the electric and non-electric sectors. Geothermal energy is a renewable and diverse energy solution for the United States, providing reliable and flexible electricity generation and delivering unique technology solutions to America’s heating and cooling demands. Geothermal resources can be found nationwide, are “always on,” and represent vast domestic energy potential. Only a fraction of this potential has been realized due to technical and non-technical barriers that constrain industry growth. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technologies Office’s GeoVision report concluded that with technology improvements, especially in areas relevant to drilling costs reduction, geothermal power generation could increase 26-fold from today, representing 60 gigawatts-electric (GWe) by 2050.

Building a clean and equitable energy economy and addressing the climate crisis is a top priority of the Biden Administration. This FOA will advance the Biden Administration’s goals (1) to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and (2) to “deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050“1 to the benefit of all Americans. The Department of Energy is committed to pushing the frontiers of science and engineering, catalyzing clean energy jobs through research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D), and ensuring environmental justice and inclusion of underserved communities.

This FOA targets technology developments that will provide significant improvements in drilling performance in commercial geothermal settings. The GeoVision Roadmap2 outlines a compilation of technical, economic, and institutional actions that the entire geothermal community, including DOE, industry, and academia must address in order for geothermal technologies to play a larger role in the nation’s energy mix. A key “Action Area” identified in the GeoVision Roadmap and strategic goals for the Hydrothermal Resource Program are highlighted below.

GeoVision Key Action 1.3 - Improve geothermal drilling and wellbore integrity: Integrating improved drilling and well-completion technology, better well design and construction materials, improved decision making, and innovative drilling financing can help industry realize better drilling efficiencies and effectiveness.
DELIVERABLE(S): New designs and approaches that enhance drilling efficiency and reduce well costs.
IMPACT(S): Reduced costs and risks and improved reliability.

GTO Hydrothermal Resource Program Strategic Goals:
 Expand geothermal energy opportunities throughout United States.
 Support research on drilling technologies that increase efficiency, lower costs, and lower risk related to hydrothermal reservoir development.
 Accelerate oil & gas technology transfer to address geothermal’s toughest challenges.

The construction of geothermal wells can represent up to 50% of total capital costs for geothermal energy production. Technologies and techniques that can reduce the time needed or the material costs associated with the construction of geothermal wells are key to achieving cost reductions. Furthermore, recent advancements in drill bits, casing, and drilling workflows have achieved significant cost reductions and improvements in wellbore quality in geothermal subsurface settings. Such significant reductions in time and capital requirements, when achieved in a reproducible manner, would represent material progress towards achieving the goals of the GeoVision study.

GTO seeks to reduce the financial risk of technologies and techniques not widely deployed in geothermal resource development. Of particular interest are projects focused on advancing geothermal well construction through the development, modification, and/or adaption of technologies and/or techniques that reduce drilling costs in a real-world geothermal field setting.

FOA Goal:
The ultimate goal of this FOA is a reduction in geothermal well costs. Because drilling costs are highly variable and sensitive to one-off events, average daily drilling penetration rate (e.g. average m/day) is the basis of performance measurement selected in this FOA. This FOA seeks to affect a 25% improvement in geothermal drilling rates by supporting multiple demonstration projects that each target this level of improvement. This metric and performance target will allow for quantitative evaluation of project impacts to support broad deployment of the most successful approaches.

Background:

Geothermal energy is a renewable and diverse solution for the United States—providing reliable and flexible electricity generation and delivering unique technology solutions to America’s heating and cooling demands. Geothermal resources can be found nationwide, are “always on,” and represent vast domestic energy potential; however, only a fraction of this potential has been realized due to technical and non-technical barriers that constrain industry growth. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Geothermal Technologies Office’s (GTO) recent GeoVision report concludes that with technology improvements, especially in areas relevant to enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), geothermal power generation could increase 26-fold from today, representing 60 gigawatts-electric (GWe) by 2050[1].

Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) are engineered geothermal reservoirs, created where there is hot rock (175-300+°C), but little to no natural permeability and/or fluid saturation.  During EGS development, subsurface permeability is enhanced via safe, well-engineered stimulation processes that re-open pre-existing fractures, create new ones, or a combination of both.  These open conduits increase permeability and allow fluid to circulate throughout the rock. This fluid transports heat to the surface where electricity can be generated with current power generation technologies. 

In addition to geothermal wells that have been targeted for EGS development, the hydrocarbon[2] industry also has an opportunity to contribute to the development of geothermal resources nationwide through the use of wells for power or heat production. The adaptation of hydrocarbon reservoirs, which are traditionally located in sedimentary basins, to geothermal production and utilization would expand the sector’s geographic reach outside of the Western U.S. where natural geothermal systems reside. Many hydrocarbon fields enounter temperatures high enough for geothermal energy and heat production. This unused heat, combined with the wealth of data, knowledge, workforce, and infrastructure in place in support of these fields underscores the benefits of exploring their geothermal potential. While a comprehensive nationwide resource assessment that evaluates the potential of existing hydrocarbon wells for geothermal development does not yet exist, a number of studies have looked at geographic subsets of the sedimentary basins of the U.S., where most hydrocarbon exploration and development occurs. Blackwell et al. (2006) provided a conservative estimate of 100,000 EJ of thermal energy in basins nationwide deeper than 4km[3]. A more detailed study on a subset of 15 U.S. basins by Porro et al. (2012) reported 135,000 EJ including only basins in the western United States (not including the Gulf Coast region)[4]. Finally, a study by Zafer & Cutright (2014) estimate the thermal energy resource base for the state of Texas alone to be 166,000 EJ[5]. 

Purpose:

Through periodic funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), GTO partners with industry, academia, national laboratories, industry experts, etc. to increase the use of domestic geothermal energy across a range of resource types by improving technologies, reducing costs, and mitigating barriers. Within GTO, the EGS Program actively pursues research, development, and demonstration projects to facilitate technology validation and deployment, reduce cost, and improve performance of EGS. Specifically, the economic viability of EGS depends on developing and improving enabling technologies and a detailed understanding of rock mass behavior and permeability enhancement.  While achieving cost-competitive electricity generation from EGS is a long-term goal, in the near-term, research, development, and demonstration projects will move industry along the learning curve toward technological readiness.

Through the FY21 Wells of Opportunity (referred to as WOO going forward) FOA, GTO is soliciting geothermal and hydrocarbon well owners or operators with existing wells that are willing to partner with DOE to advance and test EGS technologies in-situ.  These wells could be “idle” or currently used for injection, production, and/or monitoring. Due to the criticality of the technology prototyping and methodology testing phase of research and development in the innovation pipeline, this FOA focuses on active field testing, where the Federal government takes on the associated cost and risks. 

• Topic Area 1 – Amplify (EGS Near-Field RD&D):  This field validation effort will culminate in new power production, adding to the commercial viability of existing geothermal fields. The goal of Amplify is to illustrate that near-field and in-field EGS can be successfully deployed now as a result of recent technology advancements and that low permeability/underproductive wells near and in existing hydrothermal fields can be turned into valuable assets using EGS techniques.

• Topic Area 2 – ReAmplify  (Geothermal production from hydrocarbon wells): The objective of this initiative is to establish the commercial viability of geothermal energy production from existing hydrocarbon fields. The goal of ReAmplify is to establish a pilot program where the production of geothermal heat from existing hydrocarbon fields can be demonstrated for electricity production or direct use applications.

Building a clean energy economy and addressing the climate crisis is a top priority of the Biden Administration. This FOA will advance the Biden Administration’s goals to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and “deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050“^[6] to the benefit of all Americans. The Department of Energy is committed to pushing the frontiers of science and engineering, catalyzing clean energy jobs through research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D), and ensuring environmental justice and inclusion of underserved communities. 

The R&D activities to be funded under this FOA will support the government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving the innovation that can lead to the deployment of clean energy technologies, which are critical for climate protection. Specifically, this FOA focuses on critical aspects of reservoir management needed for widespread commercialization of EGS technologies which directly supports the Biden Administration’s goals for a clean energy future.  In addition, this FOA provides an opportunity to reduce carbon emissions from the fossil fuel sector and facilitate clean geothermal energy/heat production from hydrocarbon wells.  

[1] The GeoVision Roadmap outlines a compilation of technical, economic, and institutional actions that the entire geothermal community including DOE, other government agencies, industry, and academia must address in order for geothermal technologies to play a larger role in the Nation’s energy mix.

[2] Hydrocarbon: An organic chemical compound of hydrogen and carbon in the gaseous, liquid, or solid phase. https://www.eia.gov/tools/glossary/index.php

[3] Blackwell, D., Negraru, P., and Richards, M., 2006. Assessment of the Enhanced Geothermal System Resource Base of the United States. Natural Resources Research, Vol. 15, No. 4, December 2006. DOI: 10.1007/s11053-007-9028-7.

[4] Porro, C., Esposito, A., Augustine, C., and Roberts, B., 2012. An Estimate of the Geothermal Energy Resource in the Major Sedimentary Basins in the United States. GRC Transactions, Vol. 36, 2012.

[5] Zafar, S. and Cutright, B., 2014. Texas’ geothermal resource base: A raster-integration method for estimating in-place geothermal energy resources using ArcGIS. Geothermics, Vol. 50, April 2014.

[6] Executive Order 14008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” January 27, 2021.

Informational Webinar: 

Please access the information webinar at: https://doe.webex.com/doe/j.php?MTID=ma57725545051bda39fd560f48a740371

Information is sought on the solar thermochemical decarbonizing of difficult to decarbonize industries.  SETO is specifically interested in information on the research, planning, and execution challenges that must be overcome to deploy concentrating solar thermal heat energy (with or without concomitant electrification) into iron ore reduction and steel manufacture, cement production and ammonia synthesis.

In November 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the Plastics Innovation Challenge, which aims to accelerate innovations to significantly reduce plastic waste and position the U.S. as a global leader in advanced plastics recycling technologies and in the development and manufacturing of plastics that are recyclable by design. As part of the broader Plastics Innovation Challenge, DOE is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement to spur innovative solutions to plastics recycling.

DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) develops technologies that convert domestic biomass and waste resources into fuels, products, and power to enable affordable energy, economic growth, and innovation in renewable energy and chemicals production. DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) develops technologies that drive energy productivity improvements in the U.S. manufacturing sector, efficiently utilize abundant and available domestic energy resources, and support the manufacture of clean energy products with benefits extending across the economy.  This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support high-impact technology research and development (R&D) in technologies that overcome the challenges associated with the recycling of films, which are often used in single-use packaging applications.  

BETO and AMO are part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Offices that invest in high-impact, high-value technology R&D across the energy spectrum that industry would be unable to pursue independently due to the high level of risk and technology uncertainty. BETO and AMO fund applied R&D to bolster the body of scientific and engineering knowledge that can enable a new plastics economy by developing novel plastics, including bio-based plastics, capable of being efficiently recycled, composted, or biodegraded and establishing deconstruction and upcycling pathways for existing polymers that will generate high-value products. This FOA builds upon the FY20 BOTTLE FOA and seeks to fill a gap identified in the 2019 Plastics for a Circular Economy Workshop, where single-use packaging was highlighted as an important focus area. 

Plastic waste is an internationally recognized problem. Flexible, single-use packaging, including both single layer and multi-layer, (hereto referred to broadly as “films”) are among the most challenging plastics to recycle, upcycle, or biodegrade due to contamination and properties inherent to their use. At least 32% of global plastic packaging is leaked into the environment, while another 40% is landfilled, losing the energy and value embedded in this class of materials. Films, which are primarily made up of LDPE and LLDPE, make up over five percent by weight wt% of landfilled waste in the US. New technologies to make recycling and upcycling of films economically viable, including designing films for easy recycling, upcycling, or degradation in the environment, will have a large economic and environmental impact. Recycling and upcycling often yield products or plastics with significantly lower carbon footprints over virgin materials, with greenhouse gas emissions being reduced by as much as 70%. Moreover, improvements in recycling technology will lead to improved recycling economics, increased recycling infrastructure investment, and recycling jobs across the entirety of the United States.

State of the art technologies targeting films are highly varied due to the variability inherent to film materials. Research to address multilayer packaging has included single-polymer, single film substitutes, single-polymer multilayer film substitutes with each layer having specific orientation, solvent extraction, and thermal deconstruction. Traditional single-polymer films are being addressed primarily through improved sorting and collection techniques and degradable/biodegradable alternatives, though these alternatives result in a loss of the embodied energy and value of the material. Even after sorting, many films are landfilled due to the high cost associated with transporting this low density material, the low value of recycled films, and the low cost of virgin material.

This FOA seeks applications that enable the recycling and upcycling of films. Challenges associated with film recycling are vast, spanning collection, sorting/separation, contamination, and lack of economic methods for recycling and upcycling. Multilayer materials present further challenges, including immiscibility of different polymer layers and inclusion of inorganic materials. Technology can help to address these challenges by developing methods for recycling, deconstruction, and upcycling films that are sufficiently economic to incentivize collection, sorting and retention. Designing films to be inherently more recyclable or biodegradable, while retaining desired properties such as flexibility, barrier properties and strength could also make recycling of films more economical.

This FOA aims to increase recycling, upcycling, or environmentally benign degradation of films by pursuing two approaches:

1. Development of recycling and upcycling pathways that yield clear and economically favorable pathways for waste film will incentivize waste film collection and recycling; and
2. Redesign of multi-layer films to be inherently recyclable or biodegradable, enabling this complex material to be included in the recycling stream.

The focus of this FOA is the development and deployment of disruptive technologies and techniques that will affect fluid flow within enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) fracture networks, or reservoirs, which are the “engine” that drive geothermal heat production. EGS requires the ability to control the flow of fluids through and throughout the created reservoir. Standard approaches for altering flow through a reservoir are borehole centric where flow control into or out of a well is centrally managed from the wellbore.  This FOA is specifically focused on the development of novel technologies and techniques that can be used to control flow regimes outside of the wellbore and within the reservoir and to mitigate undesirable flow and heat transfer rates that degrade the performance of EGS reservoirs.   Successful projects will develop controllable in-reservoir fracture permeability modification systems/methods that yield long-term reservoir productivity improvements with the ability to reverse imparted effects. 

The Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), within the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), welcomes input from energy system modelers, geothermal developers and operators, utilities and public utility commissions, as well as from academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other geothermal stakeholders on opportunities to improve geothermal technology cost and performance modeling.As variable renewable energy resources continue declining in cost, and grid operators transition to greater use of what is increasingly cost-competitive energy storage, the energy and capacity value of geothermal generation needs to be accurately represented and captured by resource adequacy planners. GTO is soliciting this Request For Information (RFI) from the broader stakeholder community in order to ensure that geothermal technology costs and performance assumptions are most accurately represented in all grid modeling and planning efforts.  This will ensure that geothermal achieves appropriate market share that can support a reliable, resilient, and decarbonized grid.  With the help of stakeholder feedback from this RFI, GTO aims to improve its understanding of where there may be gaps in existing geothermal technology performance and cost models, and thus where to best focus future potential efforts for eliminating such gaps.

The modification updates the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion language and requirements. In addition dates and times have been added for informational webinars.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to invest in innovative research and development (R&D) that will drive down costs and develop next-generation technologies ready for commercialization. SETO works to accelerate the development and deployment of solar technology to support an equitable transition to a decarbonized electricity system by 2035 and a decarbonized energy sector by 2050. Achieving these goals will support the nationwide effort to meet the threat of climate change and ensure that all Americans benefit from the transition to a clean energy economy. The office supports solar energy research, development, demonstration, and technical assistance in five areas—photovoltaics (PV), concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP), systems integration, manufacturing and competitiveness, and soft costs—to improve the affordability, reliability, and domestic benefit of solar technologies on the electric grid.

Topic Area 1 - PV-50: 50-Year Service Life PV Systems

Topic Area 2 - SOLAR R&R: Scalable Outputs for Leveraging Advanced Research on Receivers & Reactors

Topic Area 3 - PTES: Pumped Thermal Energy Storage

Topic Area 5 - SIPS-PV & CSP (Applications must be submitted under DE-TA5-0002378)

4/19/2021 Informational Applicant Webex recording link & password:

https://doe.webex.com/doe/lsr.php?RCID=a242a4aeeef2499d9e9847d89205e738

Password:  iZKTVkC3

This FOA intends to support research and development of grid forming inverters, DER controls and to accelerate commercialization of innovative product ideas that can substantively increase U.S. domestic manufacturing and expand private investment across the solar industry supply chain (photovoltaics, power electronics, systems integration, concentrating solar thermal power, and more).

Modification 000003 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 000003 are highlighted in blue.

Modification 000002 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 000002 are highlighted in green.

Modification 000001 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 000001 are highlighted in yellow.

Informational Webinar

An informational webinar was held to provide information on the FOA to potential applicants on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, 1:00pm ET. Please see link below to access the slides for this webinar.

https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/funding-opportunity-announcement-solar-energy-technologies-office-fiscal-year-2021

In recent years a growing number of utilities responsible for clean water have been moving from strict wastewater treatment to water resource management, some formally renaming themselves as water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). Energy efficiency in equipment, processes, and operations is a fundamental part of this transition, and energy savings in facility retrofits can reach 50 percent. In addition to energy efficiency improvements, wastewater contains about five times more energy than is needed for its treatment, creating an opportunity for new, innovative technologies and approaches to recovering that energy content.

Looking even more broadly than municipal wastewater treatment facilities - across the entire energy-water nexus - water and wastewater contain a significant amount of recoverable chemical, thermal, and hydrodynamic energy content. Treatment efficiencies and energy recovery options across the energy-water nexus create the possibility for a growing percentage of treated water and wastewater systems in municipal, industrial, agriculture, utility, oil and gas and other sectors to achieve net-zero energy consumption, and even to become net producers of energy under favorable circumstances.

Energy is often the second-highest operating cost (behind labor costs) for water and wastewater treatment systems. Black & Veatch’s client surveys indicate that energy costs at water and wastewater utilities account for well over 10% of total operating costs for a large majority of utilities, with a significant number of utilities having energy costs that exceed 30 percent. Increasingly stringent regulations for contaminants are pushing water and wastewater treatment systems to use even more advanced – and energy intensive – treatment technologies. The energy use of these systems is expected to increase by up to 20 percent in the coming decades due to more stringent water quality standards and growing water demand based on population growth. Additionally, water and wastewater treatment facilities, pipes, and related infrastructure in cities around the country are approaching their end of expected service life. Therefore, a unique window of opportunity exists to replace the aging infrastructure with new, innovative approaches to water and wastewater treatment, resource recovery, and water reuse by looking more broadly at interconnected, cross-sector opportunities (i.e. municipal, industrial, agriculture, oil and gas, etc.) across the energy-water nexus to develop water and wastewater treatment systems of the future – advanced water resource recovery systems.
The goal of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to conduct research, development, and deployment on technology innovations that enable advanced water resource recovery systems. Topic Area 1 of this FOA seeks to advance the development of transformative technologies beyond early stage research and development (R&D) to become pilot ready (TRL 4-6). Whereas, Topic Area 2 of this FOA seeks to test currently developed, pilot ready technologies (TRL 6-7) though design, build, and operations in industrially relevant conditions to enable commercialization.

This FOA is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) as part of the DOE’s Water Security Grand Challenge (WSGC). The WSGC is a White House initiated, U.S. DOE led framework to advance transformational technology and innovation to meet the global need for safe, secure, and affordable water. Using a coordinated suite of prizes, competitions, R&D, and other programs, the Water Security Grand Challenge has set the following goals for the United States to reach by 2030:

As part of the WSGC, DOE announced a $1 million Water Resource Recovery Prize to accelerate resource recovery from municipal wastewater across the United States. DOE also announced the selection of the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) to lead DOE’s Energy-Water Desalination Hub, an early stage R&D consortia focused on desalination technologies. This FOA seeks to leverage these investments to further develop technologies for advanced water resource recovery systems.

Questions regarding the FOA must be submitted to AMOWaterFOA@ee.doe.gov

Answers to the questions will be posted to an excel spreadsheet found in the annoucement Documents section of the FOA posting.

EERE Exchange is designed to enforce the deadlines specified in this FOA. The “Apply” and “Submit” buttons will automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. Should applicants experience problems with EERE Exchange, the following information may be helpful.

Applicants that experience issues with submission PRIOR to the FOA deadline: In the event that an applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the applicant should contact the EERE Exchange helpdesk for assistance (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov). The EERE Exchange helpdesk and/or the EERE Exchange system administrators will assist applicants in resolving issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in late submissions: In the event that an applicant experiences technical difficulties so severe that they are unable to submit their application by the deadline, the applicant should contact the EERE Exchange helpdesk for assistance (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov). The EERE Exchange helpdesk and/or the EERE Exchange system administrators will assist the applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing submission on behalf of and with the applicant’s concurrence). Please note, network traffic is at its heaviest during the final hours and minutes prior to submittal deadline. Applicants who experience this during the final hours or minutes and are unsuccessful in uploading documents will not be able to use this process.

DE-FOA-0002358: Notice of Request for Information (RFI) on the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy’s in support of Battery Critical Materials Supply Chain R&D.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to challenges and opportunities in the upstream and midstream critical materials battery supply chains. EERE is specifically interested in information on raw minerals production and refining and processing of cathode materials including cobalt, lithium, and nickel. This RFI is being issued by DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), in collaboration with the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) and Vehicles Technologies Office (VTO).

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

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to BatteryCriticalMaterialsRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on July 31, 2020. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) or pdf attachment to the email, and no more than 10 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

FY20 SETO FOA Topic Area 2 Applicants ONLY

Modification 00003 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00003 are highlighted in blue.

Modification 00002 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00002 are highlighted in green.

Modification 00001 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00001 are highlighted in yellow

Topic Area 2: Integrated Thermal Energy STorage and Brayton Cycle (Integrated TESTBED)
Research in this topic area will work to move lab-scale supercritical CO2 (sCO2) Brayton power cycles closer to commercial production by designing and demonstrating the integration of these cycles with thermal energy storage (TES).

Teaming Lists associated with this FOA can be found on the main FOA page https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/default.aspx#FoaIdc8e280d2-b7bf-4138-810b-cad9ba1541ac.

Questions and Answers related to this FOA can be found on the main FOA page https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/default.aspx#FoaIdc8e280d2-b7bf-4138-810b-cad9ba1541ac.

Modification 00003 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00003 are highlighted in blue.

Modification 00002 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00002 are highlighted in green.

Modification 00001 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00001 are highlighted in yellow

Topic Area 8: Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS): PV and CSP
Projects in this topic area will focus on innovative and novel ideas in photovoltaics and concentrating solar-thermal power that are riskier than research ideas based on established technologies.

Submission Note:

PV SIPS applications must be submitted under Topic Area 8.1.

CSP SIPS applications must be submitted under Topic Area 8.2

Teaming Lists associated with this FOA can be found on the main FOA page https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/default.aspx#FoaIdc8e280d2-b7bf-4138-810b-cad9ba1541ac.

Questions and Answers related to this FOA can be found on the main FOA page https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/default.aspx#FoaIdc8e280d2-b7bf-4138-810b-cad9ba1541ac.

Modification 00003 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00003 are highlighted in blue.

Modification 00002 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00002 are highlighted in green.

Modification 00001 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00001 are highlighted in yellow

The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) works across the solar energy technology spectrum with the goal of improving the affordability, reliability, and performance of solar technologies on the grid. Ensuring that more Americans can benefit from the declining costs of solar is one of SETO's primary goals, which support early-stage research, development, and demonstration of solar technologies. Achieving SETO's priorities across the solar energy technology landscape requires sustained, multifaceted innovation. With this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the office intends to fund high-impact, early-stage research in the following areas:

Topic Area 1: Photovoltaics Hardware Research

*Topic Area 2: Integrated Thermal Energy STorage and Brayton Cycle (Integrated TESTBED) (Applications must be submitted under DE-TA2-0002243.)

Topic Area 3: Solar Energy Evolution and Diffusion Studies 3 (SEEDS 3)

Topic Area 4: SETO Incubator Tier 2: Innovation in Manufacturing

Topic Area 5: Systems Integration

Topic Area 6: Agricultural Solar: Opportunities, Innovative Models, and Novel System Designs

Topic Area 7: Artificial Intelligence Applications in Solar Energy with Emphasis on Machine Learning

*Topic Area 8: Small Innovative Projects in Solar (SIPS): PV and CSP (Applications must be submitted under DE-TA8-0002243.)

Informational webinars:

February 12, 2020, at 2 PM Eastern Standard Time / 12 PM Mountain Standard Time

ATTENTION: Modification (0001) to FOA has been uploaded to Documents section below. Numerous updates including an extended Full Application Due Date are included. Please review.

Through the Wells of Opportunity (WOO) FOA, EERE's Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) is soliciting well owners or operators with “idle” wells that are willing to partner with DOE to advance and test EGS technologies in-situ. Due to the criticality of the technology prototyping and methodology testing phase of research and development in the innovation pipeline, this FOA focuses on active field testing, where the Federal government takes on the associated high cost and risks.

Topic Area 1 – Pilot (FORGE Test Wells): The objective of this initiative is to select, prepare, permit, and repair idle wells for early-stage FORGE technology and methodology testing prior to or in lieu of testing in the FORGE Utah wells. These wells will be closely linked to the FORGE effort, contributing to the overall goals and mission of the FORGE initiative by enabling higher-risk technology testing.

Topic Area 2– Amplify (EGS Near-Field RD&D): This field validation effort will culminate in new power production, adding to the economic viability of these existing geothermal fields and illustrating that near-field EGS can be successfully deployed now and that low permeability/unproductive wells near existing hydrothermal fields can be turned into valuable assets using EGS techniques.

Please carefully review the complete Funding Opportunity Announcement, which can be accessed under the "Documents" heading below.

FOA Q&A can also be accessed under the "Documents" heading. Please review the Q&A before submitting a question, as a similar question may already have been answered. Please include the Topic Area(s) with the question.

To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through EERE Exchange (this website), EERE’s online application portal.

The Exchange system enforces 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 should contact the Exchange Helpdesk for assistance at EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov. Applicants are responsible for meeting each submission deadline. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their Full Applications at least 48 hours in advance of the submission deadline.

ATTENTION: Modification (0001) to FOA has been uploaded to Documents section below. Numerous updates including an extended Full Application Due Date are included. Please review.

At EERE, we understand that due to the coronavirus outbreak, many of us have had to make adjustments to our business operations and practices in order to safeguard the health and safety of our communities. Due to the extraordinary circumstances in which we now find ourselves, EERE is issuing an extension of 26 calendar days to respond to this FOA. The Full Application due date for this FOA is now May 4, 2020 5:00pm ET.

Thank you, applicants, for your continued efforts during this uncertain time.

We hope that you and your loved ones are well and we look forward to hearing from you.

The FOA has been modified as follows:

1. Updated Submission Deadline for Full Applications and Expected Submission Deadline for Replies to Reviewer Comments.
2. Updated Section II.A.i “Estimated Funding” to state one or more awards may be issued under Topic 1.

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The Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), within the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), supports early-stage research and development (R&D) to strengthen the body of knowledge upon which industry can accelerate the development and deployment of innovative geothermal energy technologies.

GTO works to develop technologies to drive down the costs and risks of geothermal energy. Geothermal energy is a domestic energy resource from the heat of the earth, which represents a reliable, secure, clean, and nearly inexhaustible energy source.

This multi-topic funding opportunity aims to drive down costs and risks associated with the discovery of hidden geothermal systems in the Basin & Range region of the U.S., and to enhance energy system resilience through the utilization of Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES), Deep Direct-Use (DDU) and other geothermal direct use applications on university campuses, military installations, hospital complexes, and other large energy end-uses across the U.S.

The topic areas will be:

Topic Area 1 – Exploration RD&D: Hidden Geothermal Systems in the Basin and Range

Topic Area 2 – Advanced Energy Storage Initiative (AESI): Bi-directional Energy Storage Using Low-Temperature Geothermal Applications

Please carefully review the complete Funding Opportunity Announcement, which can be accessed under the "Documents" heading below.

FOA Q&As can also be accessed under the "Documents" heading. Please review the Q&A before submitting a question, as a similar question may already have been answered.

To apply to this FOA, Applicants must register with and submit application materials through EERE Exchange (this website), EERE’s online application portal.

The Exchange system enforces hard deadlines for Letter of Intent 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 should contact the Exchange Helpdesk for assistance at EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov. Applicants are responsible for meeting each submission deadline. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their Letters of Intent and Full Applications at least 48 hours in advance of the submission deadlines.

This request for information (RFI) seeks feedback on technologies to integrate and demonstrate advanced supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) Brayton power cycles that are indirectly heated via thermal energy storage at a turbine inlet temperature (TIT) range between 550 and 630°C. This request is focused on accelerating the commercialization of sCO₂ power cycles that are appropriate for near-term integration with concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP), at temperatures that do not require significant de-risking of the cost and performance of novel materials.

The purposes of this modification are to extend the response deadline to October 25, 2019 and to allow Excel submissions of well data.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) is interested in gathering information about underutilized wells in known geothermal resources in the United States. The information gathered will be used to gauge industry willingness to partner with GTO to test downhole tools, technologies, and methodologies that are currently at a TRL level below commercial readiness and understand the barriers to partnering this way. Wells above 175°C with low permeability are of highest interest, but others will be considered.

This RFI is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA); therefore, EERE is not accepting applications at this time. EERE may issue a FOA in the future based on or related to the content and responses to this RFI; however, EERE may also elect not to issue a FOA. There is no guarantee that a FOA will be issued as a result of this RFI. Responding to this RFI does not provide any advantage or disadvantage to potential applicants if EERE chooses to issue a FOA regarding the subject matter. Final details, including the anticipated award size, quantity, and timing of EERE funded awards, will be subject to Congressional appropriations and direction.

Any information obtained as a result of this RFI is intended to be used by the Government on a non-attribution basis for planning and strategy development; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or abstracts. Your response to this notice will be treated as information only. EERE will review and consider all responses in its formulation of program strategies for the identified materials of interest that are the subject of this request. EERE will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that EERE is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Responses to this RFI do not bind EERE to any further actions related to this topic.

Please see the full RFI in the “Documents” section below for the complete list of questions and instructions for responding.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to GeothermalRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm (ET) on October 25, 2019. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no more than 5 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Attachments that include well data requested above may be included as additional Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) attachments. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

NOTICE: The submission deadline for Full Applications has been extended to 09/12/2019 at 5 PM ET. Expected submission deadline for Replies to Reviewer Comments has been extended to 10/23/219 at 5 PM ET. Please see updated Modification 0002 of the Funding Opportunity Announcement below for changes.

NOTICE: The submission deadline for Full Applications has been extended to 09/05/2019, 5:00pm ET. Please see updated Modification 0001 of the Funding Opportunity Announcement below for additional changes.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) supports federal investment in innovative, early-stage advanced manufacturing applied research and development (R&D) projects that focus on specific high-impact manufacturing technology, materials, and process challenges. The topics are aimed at foundational energy-related advanced manufacturing technologies that impact areas relevant to manufacturing processes (where energy costs are a determinant of competitive manufacturing) and broadly applicable platform technologies (the enabling base upon which other systems and applications can be developed). The competitively selected projects will focus on developing next-generation manufacturing material, information, and process technologies that improve energy efficiency in energy intensive and energy dependent processes.

With this FOA, the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) intends to fund high-impact, early to mid-stage research in the following topic areas:

Topic 1: Innovations for the Manufacture of Advanced Materials

Subtopic 1.1: Accelerate the Manufacturing Process Design and Development Cycle for Advanced Energy Conversion and Storage Materials

Subtopic 1.2: Innovative Manufacturing Processes for Battery Energy Storage

Subtopic 1.3: Materials and Manufacturing Process Development of Nanocrystalline Metal Alloys

Subtopic 1.4: Process-Informed Science, Design, and Engineering of Materials and Devices Operating in Harsh Service Conditions

Topic 2: Lower Thermal Budget (LTB) Processes for Industrial Efficiency & Productivity

Subtopic 2.1: Advances in Industrial and Process Drying

Subtopic 2.2: Thermal Process Intensification

Topic 3: Connected, Flexible and Efficient Manufacturing Facilities and Energy Systems

Subtopic 3.1: Medium-Voltage Power Conditioning Systems to Enable Grid-Dispatchable and Resilient Manufacturing Facilities

Subtopic 3.2: High Power to Heat Ratio, High Efficiency Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

Subtopic 3.3: Verification and Validation of CHP and District Energy

For questions and answers pertaining to this FOA, please reference the DE-FOA-0001980 AMO 2019 FAQ Log at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.

EERE Exchange is designed to enforce the deadlines specified in this FOA. The “Apply” and “Submit” buttons will automatically disable at the defined submission deadlines. Should applicants experience problems with EERE Exchange, the following information may be helpful.

Applicants that experience issues with submission PRIOR to the FOA deadline: In the event that an applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission, the applicant should contact the EERE Exchange helpdesk for assistance (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov). The EERE Exchange helpdesk and/or the EERE Exchange system administrators will assist applicants in resolving issues.

Applicants that experience issues with submissions that result in late submissions: In the event that an applicant experiences technical difficulties so severe that they are unable to submit their application by the deadline, the applicant should contact the EERE Exchange helpdesk for assistance (EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov). The EERE Exchange helpdesk and/or the EERE Exchange system administrators will assist the applicant in resolving all issues (including finalizing submission on behalf of and with the applicant’s concurrence). Please note, network traffic is at its heaviest during the final hours and minutes prior to submittal deadline. Applicants who experience this during the final hours or minutes and are unsuccessful in uploading documents will not be able to use this process.

DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) will award up to $7M for projects that advance geothermal development by addressing two significant barriers: understanding subsurface state of stress and managing lost circulation events in drilling. Improved understanding of the stress state in geothermal fields will lead to significant cost reductions at several stages of the development cycle, including improved drilling success rates and sustainability of reservoirs over time. Improved knowledge of subsurface stress has the potential to improve both well targeting and reservoir sustainability – two primary drivers of cost. Another challenge that can contribute to the high cost of reservoir access is the loss of fluids to surrounding rock during drilling, or lost circulation events (LCEs). Because geothermal drilling operations tend to target zones of highly fractured and altered material, lost circulation is more common in geothermal drilling than in other applications and can represent 20% of the costs for exploratory wells and reservoir development. Effective assessment of the subsurface stress and being able to mitigate and manage lost circulation events are critical to improving the efficiency of geothermal energy development and ultimately can play a major role in increasing domestic energy affordability. With this funding opportunity, GTO is seeking to sponsor early-stage R&D that will advance the state of the art in each of these related areas.

The full Funding Opportunity Announcement is published at EERE-Exchange.energy.gov.

For questions and answers pertaining to this FOA, please reference the DE-FOA-0002083: Subsurface Stress and Lost Circulation in Geothermal Drilling FAQ Log in FOA Documents.

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 and/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.doe.gov) will assist the Applicant in resolving all issues.

Modification 00003 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00003 are highlighted in blue.

Modification 00002 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00002 are highlighted in green.

Modification 00001 - See the Modification table in the FOA. Changes from modification 00001 are highlighted in yellow.

The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) works across the solar energy technology spectrum with the goal of improving the affordability, reliability, and performance of solar technologies on the grid. Ensuring that more Americans can benefit from the declining costs of solar is one of SETO's primary goals, which support early-stage research, development, and demonstration of solar technologies. Achieving SETO's priorities across the solar energy technology landscape requires sustained, multifaceted innovation. With this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the office intends to fund high-impact, early-stage research in the following areas:

Topic Area 1: Photovoltaics Research and Development

Topic Area 2: Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Research and Development

Topic Area 3: Balance of Systems Soft Costs Reduction

Topic Area 4: Innovations in Manufacturing: Hardware Incubator

Topic Area 5: Advanced Solar Systems Integration Technologies

Teaming Partner List: See “Teaming Partner List Instructions” under the Documents Section for more information about the SETO teaming partner list.

Links to the recorded webinars are below. The password for each webinar is Setofoa2019. The recordings must be viewed in a browser other than Internet Explorer.

SETO FY 2019 FUNDING OPPORTUNITY - OVERVIEW

Topic Area 1- PHOTOVOLTAICS

Topic Area 2 - CONCENTRATING SOLAR POWER - Due to an unfortunate technical error, the CSP webinar recording and webinar transcript will not be posted on Exchange. See the Documents section below for a copy of the CSP presentation slides.

Topic Area 3 - SOFT COSTS

Topic Area 4 - INNOVATIONS IN MANUFACTURING

Topic Area 5 - SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

Applicants should note that the SAM registration and renewal process has been updated recently and now requires applicants to mail a notarized letter to the SAM processing office in London, KY. The letter must formally identify an Entity Administrator for each applicant. This additional step can result in longer processing times.

For questions and answers, please refer to the FOA Q and A spreadsheet under Documents.

The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather insights about priority research and development needs across the solar industry. The goal of this RFI is to achieve a better understanding of the problems facing solar stakeholders including researchers, analysts, and manufacturers supporting the technological advancement and wide-scale adoption of solar technology. This information will help inform the office’s planning efforts.

The RFI covers four topic areas:

Photovoltaics: The office seeks feedback on issues related to high-priority areas within photovoltaics (PV) research, such as advanced PV manufacturing science, high efficiency tandem cell and module development, and reliability of module-level power electronics. Specifically, SETO is interested in and identifying any new major research areas and potential projects or collaborations that would have a lasting impact for the U.S. PV industry.

PV stakeholders are asked to send responses to SETO.RFI.PV@ee.doe.gov and can find a template for responses in the “DOCUMENTS” section below.

Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power: The office seeks input from the industrial and research communities in several areas that may help enable concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) systems to achieve high operating temperatures and lower costs. Those areas include: long-term thermal energy storage, pumped thermal storage materials, and autonomous solar collector fields.

CSP stakeholders are asked to send responses to SETO.RFI.CSP@ee.doe.gov and can find a template for responses in the “DOCUMENTS” section below.

Systems Integration: The office seeks input from relevant stakeholders on a number of interest areas related to the cost-effective, performance-enhancing integration of solar systems onto the electric grid, particularly at high penetration level. These include: addressing early stage research and development gaps with adaptive protection, smart inverter dynamic models, behind-the-meter grid services, grid-forming inverter controls, utilization of PV inverters as grid sensors, and cyber-secure PV plants.

System Integration stakeholders are asked to send responses to SETO.RFI.SI@ee.doe.gov and can find a template for responses in the “DOCUMENTS” section below.

Balance of Systems Soft Cost Reduction: The office seeks feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other solar stakeholders on research gaps associated with permitting, inspection, interconnection, and financing for solar.

Balance of System stakeholders are asked to send responses to SETO.RFI.BOS@ee.doe.gov and can find a template for responses in the “DOCUMENTS” Section below.

This RFI is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA); therefore, EERE is not accepting applications at this time. EERE may issue a FOA in the future based on or related to the content and responses to this RFI; however, EERE may also elect not to issue a FOA. There is no guarantee that a FOA will be issued as a result of this RFI. Responding to this RFI does not provide any advantage or disadvantage to potential applicants if EERE chooses to issue a FOA regarding the subject matter. Final details, including the anticipated award size, quantity, and timing of EERE funded awards, will be subject to Congressional appropriations and direction.

Additional Information

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to the topic-specific email addresses no later than 12:00pm (ET) on January 7, 2019. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email and no more than 20 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted.

Please identify answers by responding to a specific question or topic, as applicable. Respondents may answer as many or as few questions as they deem appropriate.

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

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

Company / institution name;

Company / institution contact;

The purpose of this modification is to extend the application due date.  Please see the updated FOA document in the Documents section below for more details.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technology Office (GTO) Machine Learning for Geothermal Energy funding opportunity announcement (FOA) supports projects that will develop new analytical tools for finding and developing geothermal resources and establish the practice of machine learning in geothermal operations. The rapidly advancing field of Machine Learning (ML) offers substantial opportunities for technology advancement and cost reduction throughout the geothermal project lifecycle, from resource exploration to power plant operations.

Under this funding opportunity, GTO is interested in two topic areas:

Topic 1: Machine Learning for Geothermal Exploration - GTO seeks projects that advance geothermal exploration through the application of machine learning techniques to geological, geophysical, geochemical, borehole, and other relevant datasets. Of particular interest to GTO are projects that will identify data acquisition targets and build community datasets for future work.

Topic 2: Advanced Analytics for Efficiency and Automation in Geothermal Operations - GTO seeks projects that apply advanced analytics to power plant and other operator datasets, with the goal of improving operations and resource management.

For questions and answers pertaining to this FOA, please reference the DE-FOA-0001956 Machine Learning FAQ Log in FOA Documents.

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 and/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.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@ee.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 U.S. Department of Energy’s Geothermal Technology Office (GTO) Zonal Isolation for Manmade Geothermal Reservoirs funding opportunity announcement (FOA) supports early-stage development of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) tools and technologies, and will seek to improve the performance and economics of EGS systems by funding research in zonal isolation.

Zonal isolation technologies can radically improve the performance and economics of EGS, or manmade geothermal reservoirs. These technologies provide the ability to target specific zones for stimulation activities, which can enable the command and control of fracture location and the economy of resources. In turn, this reduces development costs and operational risks associated with EGS development and promotes more power from fewer wellbores.

Under this funding opportunity, GTO is interested in two topic areas:

Topic 1 - Invention and Innovative Design of Zonal Isolation Technologies and Techniques for EGS Stimulation; and,
Topic 2 - Adaption of Existing Zonal Isolation Technologies for EGS Stimulation.

The projects selected from this FOA will aim to develop reliable zonal isolation tools and technologies that:
• Present low risk to wellbore integrity or the conductivity of fractures;
• Can operate at high-temperatures in corrosive, hard rock environments for extended periods of time; and
• Withstand large pressure differentials.

For questions and answers pertaining to this FOA, please reference the DE-FOA-0001945 Zonal Isolation 2018 FAQ Log in FOA Documents.

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 (exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov). The eXCHANGE helpdesk and/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators (eXCHANGE@ee.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@ee.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.

Informational Webinar: The Informational Webinar mentioned in the FOA is scheduled for July 5, 2018 at 2:00PM ET.
https://doe.webex.com/doe/onstage/g.php?MTID=e79ab53873f11cc658018eb6923f78827

Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), invites input from the public regarding opportunities associated with applying machine learning techniques toward challenges in the geosciences that are relevant to geothermal energy. With the overall goals of establishing the practice of machine learning (ML) in the geothermal industry and maximizing the value of the rich datasets utilized in the geosciences, GTO is seeking input in three areas: Identifying the most promising applications of machine learning in subsurface R&D, building open community datasets capable of supporting the most advanced ML techniques, and leveraging crowd-sourced R&D through alternative funding mechanisms. As ML is already well- established in some industries, GTO is also very interested in feedback from outside of the geothermal community. The information requested is intended to advance GTO goals in geothermal development, though there are likely crosscutting applications with other industries operating in the subsurface. Opportunities for partnerships with other industries are also of interest. 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, DOE is not accepting
applications at this time. All responses to this RFI must be provided as an attachment (in Microsoft Word format) to an e-mail message addressed to machinelearninggeo@ee.doe.gov. Responses must be received no later than 5:00 PM EDT on June 6, 2018. The full content of the announcement can be found on the EERE Exchange website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.

Modification No. 0001 - See the Modification table in the FOA. All changes are highlighted in yellow.

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001880: Efficient Drilling for Geothermal Energy, is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO).

The FOA contains three Topic Areas. The first two involve early stage research and development (R&D), while the third solicits projects that incentivize the risk-averse geothermal industry to adopt innovations earlier in the technology R&D cycle.

Topic Area 1: Reducing Non-Drilling Time

Topic Area 2: Advanced Drilling Technologies

Topic Area 3: Innovative Partnership Models

Please carefully review the complete Funding Opportunity Announcement, which can be accessed under the "Documents" heading below.

An informational webinar was held on May 2, 2018, at 2:00 PM (EST). The presentation slides and the script read during the webinar are posted below.

FOA Q&A for this Funding Opportunity Announcement can be accessed under the "Documents" heading below. Please review the FOA Q&A before submitting a question, as a similar question may already have been answered.

Please note the "Submission Deadlines" below. The EERE Exchange system is designed to enforce hard deadlines for Concept Paper (required) 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 FOA will support early-stage research that spans the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) portfolio, seeking to advance both solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) technologies and to facilitate the swift integration of those technologies into the nation’s electricity grid. It also is designed to support efforts that prepare the workforce for the solar industry’s future needs. The FOA is organized into the following high level Topic Areas:

Topic 1: Advanced Solar Systems Integration Technologies describes SETO research priorities in the seamless integration of high penetrations of solar energy onto the nation’s electricity grid.

Topic 2: Concentrating Solar Thermal Power Research and Development describes SETO research priorities that support solar technologies that focus sunlight to generate and store high-temperature heat for electricity generation and other end uses.

Topic 3: Photovoltaic Research and Development describes SETO research priorities that support the further development of photovoltaic technologies that improve system reliability, annual energy yield, demonstrate performance of novel PV devices and develop new PV materials.

Topic 4: Improving and Expanding the Solar Industry through Workforce Initiatives describes SETO research priorities that support solar workforce development.

Webinar links:

**Note prior registration is not necessary.

Topic 1: Advanced Solar Systems Integration Technologies Webinar

April 23, 2018 1-2 pm EST

https://meetings.doe.gov/orion/joinmeeting.do?MTID=8ed931c4b7a7dfc06b4c54aa8db46055

Topic 2: Concentrating Solar Thermal Power Research and Development Webinar

April 23, 2018 2-3 pm EST

https://meetings.doe.gov/orion/joinmeeting.do?MTID=7993ba670f1327aeda96b3584f541b1a

Topic 3: Photovoltaic Research and Development Webinar

April 24, 2018 4-5 pm EST

https://meetings.doe.gov/orion/joinmeeting.do?MTID=6aa33236e167ca68666a5b3f420283b8

Topic 4: Improving and Expanding the Solar Industry through Workforce Initiatives Webinar

April 24, 2018 1-2 pm EST

https://meetings.doe.gov/orion/joinmeeting.do?MTID=516a967629e43ac5ce6ef51e0a0d7015

Applicants should note that the SAM registration and renewal process has been updated recently and now requires applicants to mailing a notarized letter to the SAM processing office in London, KY. The letter must formally identify an Entity Administrator for each applicant. This additional step can result in longer processing times. More information can be found here:

https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/organization/federal-acquisition-service/office-of-systems-management/integrated-award-environment-iae/sam-update

The Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), within the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), invites input from the public regarding challenges and opportunities associated with drilling geothermal wells. With the overall goal of better understanding barriers to lower the costs and risks of geothermal drilling for the purpose of electricity production, we are seeking input in three areas: defining the major challenges, research and development opportunities, and process improvement opportunities. The information requested is intended to ascertain where there are opportunities to reduce the costs of drilling, facilitating increased geothermal energy production in the United States.

Modification 0001: The purpose of this modification is to modify the first full paragraph on page 6, to include the fourth "particularly attractive market for desalination technologies": industrial processes.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) seeks to fund applied scientific research that develops novel technologies or concepts using solar thermal energy to assist in the desalination process, which will reduce the levelized cost of water (LCOW) through reducing the levelized cost of heat (LCOH), increasing the energy efficiency for thermal desalination processes, and reducing the overall capital and integration costs for solar thermal desalination. Applications for thermal desalination include municipality water production, agriculture, industrial processes, and produced waters from the oil and gas industry. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA), intends to support the research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of technologies that have the potential to integrate solar thermal technologies into desalination processes, develop novel low temperature solar concentrators and storage, consider novel and innovative thermal desalination technologies, or show how solar thermal energy can be implemented into current or upcoming desalination methods. As part of the SunShot Initiative, this applied research and development program is intended to demonstrate new concepts in either solar thermal or thermal desalination technologies, or the combination therein. These developments should lead to subsequent system integration, engineering scale-up, and eventual commercial production for water purification applications.

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 and/or the EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators 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 EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators 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 theApplicant has a) encountered technical difficulties beyond their control; b) has contacted the helpdesk for assistance; and c) has submitted the application through eXCHANGE within 24 hours of the FOA's posted deadline.

An Informational Webinar was held on Thursday, October 12. To view the webinar slides and transcript, please download DE-FOA-0001778 Informational Webinar Slides and DE-FOA-0001778 Informational Webinar Transcript from the "Documents" section below.

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

This FOA supports research, development, and potential demonstration of early stage technologies that can significantly reduce the costs of desalination powered by solar thermal energy. Rather than utilizing high-value electricity as an energy input, solar thermal desalination can achieve lower costs than current reverse osmosis systems by lowering the cost of collecting and storing solar thermal energy and increasing the efficiency of thermal desalination technologies. Additionally, thermal desalination can be utilized over a wide range of salt content, making it attractive for applications that require very high salinity feedwater or zero-liquid discharge. Applicants will be expected to propose ideas that have the potential to dramatically decrease the cost of producing solar thermal energy, advance early-stage thermal desalination technologies, or design novel integrated systems that creatively use solar thermal energy to lower the cost of producing fresh water.

It is anticipated that the FOA may include the following Areas of Interest:

Area of Interest 1 – Low cost solar thermal heat - innovative concepts that have the potential to lower the cost of solar thermal collection, transport, and storage below conventional methods of generating heat.

Area of Interest 2 – Innovative thermal desalination techniques - Novel, early-stage thermal desalination technologies that are well suited to be coupled with solar generated heat.

Area of Interest 3 – Solar thermal integrated desalination - Integrated solar thermal desalination systems showing the potential for low-cost desalinated water.

Area of Interest 4 – Solar thermal desalination analysis - Analytic tools, such as systems models, for economic evaluation and resource optimization with solar thermal desalination.

Please access the complete Notice of Intent under the "Documents" heading below.

This is a Notice of Intent (NOI) only. EERE may issue a FOA as described, may issue a FOA that is significantly different from the FOA described herein, or EERE 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.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Solar Energy Technology Office (SETO) is seeking applications under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to fund applied research and development to enable the reduction of the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) generated by concentrating solar power (CSP) to 6 ¢/kWh-electric or less, without subsidies. This FOA intends to develop integrated thermal system solutions to overcome the temperature limitations of current CSP systems, while lowering capital costs by enabling the use of advanced turbines and achieving a higher overall system efficiency in converting solar thermal energy into electricity. Applications to this FOA are expected to advance individual high temperature components which have been developed at lab scale, and test them as an integrated system at a multi-MW thermal scale that can accept solar thermal energy, store it, and efficiently deliver it to a working fluid at high temperature, representative of a high efficiency power cycle.

An informational webinar was held Tuesday September 19, 2017 at 1pm ET.  The presentation slides and the script read during the webinar are posted below. 

Modification 000001: The purpose of this modification is to revise Section II.A.i. Estimated Funding to clarify funding amounts for Topic Area 1 and optional Topic Area 2; revise Section IV.C.ii Technical Volume to clarify that the annual budget must include a budget for each region if proposing to cover multiple regions provide; and revise IV.C.iv Budget Justification Workbook (EERE 335) to clarify that if the application is proposing to cover multiple regions (see Section I.B.i) applicants must complete the budget justification workbook for the primary region and identify in the Technical Volume the additional amount of funds needed to cover each secondary region.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) seeks to further the installation of cost-effective, highly efficient combined heat and power (CHP). CHP is a suite of commercially available, predominately gas-fired distributed generation technologies that produce both electricity and thermal energy onsite, thereby reducing line losses and strain on grid infrastructure while also increasing site reliability and energy security. The promotion of CHP is part of the EERE mission to create and sustain American leadership in the transition to a strong and prosperous America powered by clean, domestic, affordable and secure energy for the industrial, manufacturing, commercial and multifamily sectors. Within AMO, CHP is the focus of both R&D and deployment activities, with R&D activities focused on new CHP technologies including hybrid and also grid reactive controls. On the deployment side, the CHP Deployment Program conducts technical assistance activities that promote the use of combined heat and power to support U.S. economic competitive advantage, promote economic development, instill resiliency in businesses and communities, create and maintain local energy-related jobs, and provide sustainable solutions for modernizing energy generation and delivery. Today’s energy environment and technology solutions present an opportunity for continued deployment of CHP. The goal of this FOA is to solicit proposals from interested parties to become regional CHP Technical Assistance Partnerships (CHP TAPs) who will assist the CHP Deployment Program in the development of strategies to maximize CHP exposure to potential end-users and key stakeholders, and to locally promote best practices in CHP technology policies and installation. (For more information about the DOE/EERE CHP Deployment Program, visit https://energy.gov/eere/amo/chp-deployment).

Please click "FOA FAQs" under the "DOCUMENTS" heading below for Questions and Answers specific to this FOA.

EERE will conduct one informational webinar during the FOA process. It will be held after the initial FOA release but before the due date for the Letter of Intent.

Attendance is not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any Applicant submissions. Standard application questions regarding the EERE Office and FOA procedures will be discussed. No new information will be presented during the webinar and EERE will not answer any attendee questions during the webinar.

Informational Webinar: The Informational Webinar mentioned in the FOA will be held on January 26, 2017 at 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Attendance is not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any Applicant submissions. Standard application questions regarding the EERE Office and FOA procedures will be discussed. No new information will be presented during the webinar and EERE will not answer any attendee questions during the webinar.

**UPDATE -- Below is the link to the recording of the informational webinar:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/3417803687918345731

Applicants that experience issues with submissions PRIOR to the FOA Deadline: 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 applications. 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). 

Modification No. 0001 -  See the Modification table in the FOA. All changes are highlighted in yellow.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement is soliciting applications that propose projects conducting feasibility studies of large-scale, low-temperature deep-well geothermal systems coupled with advanced direct-use applications and cascaded surface technologies whose applications will extend the reach of geothermal into geologically distinct parts of the country beyond the western U.S. These systems are referred to herein as deep direct-use or DDU.

This FOA will solicit applications that propose projects supporting DDU feasibility studies in two Topic Areas:

Please note the "Submission Deadlines" below. The EERE 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.

The complete Funding Opportunity Announcement can be accessed under the "Documents" heading below.

FOA FAQs for this Funding Opportunity Announcement can be accessed under the "Documents" heading below.

A webinar was held for this FOA on Tuesday, November 22, 2016. The slide presentation and transcript from the webinar can be accessed under the "Documents" heading below.

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  

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of EERE’s intention to issue DE-FOA-0001601: “Geothermal Deep Direct-Use Feasibility Studies” 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 Geothermal Technologies Office seeks to conduct feasibility studies of large-scale, low-temperature deep-well geothermal systems coupled with advanced direct-use applications and cascaded surface technologies whose applications will extend the reach of geothermal into geologically distinct parts of the country beyond the western U.S. These systems are referred to herein as Deep Direct-Use or DDU.

This FOA will solicit applications that propose projects supporting DDU feasibility studies in two Topic Areas:

• Topic Area 1 “DDU Feasibility Studies” will focus on the initial site selection, resource assessment, and feasibility study of DDU technology(s).
• Topic Area 2 “DDU Community of Practice Administration and Techno-Economic Validation of DDU Projects” seeks to convene and establish a DDU Community of Practice (COP).

Please access the complete Notice of Intent under the "Documents" heading below.

This is a Notice of Intent (NOI) only. EERE may issue a FOA as described, may issue a FOA that is significantly different from the FOA described herein, or EERE 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.

Modification 0002: The purpose of this modification is to revise Table 1 of Section I.A & Section I.B.iii. Topic Area 3: Superconducting Wire Manufacturing to correct the operating temperature from ‘77K’ to ‘above 65K’, and ‘Yttrium’ is replaced with ‘Rare Earth’. Correction made to footnote 34. Also, the symbol J_e is replaced by I_c in Table 1.

Modification 0001: The purpose of this modification is to revise Section I.B.i. Topic Area 1: High Performance Thermal and Electrical Conductor Manufacturing to remove the references to measuring conductivity improvements by either weight or volume units.

Manufacturing is the use of energy, equipment, information, services, and capital to convert raw materials, components, and parts into goods that meet market expectations. As an economic sector, manufacturing generates 12 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs 12 million Americans. The DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) makes research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) investments in advanced manufacturing process and materials technologies. These technologies are foundational, pervasive, and promise crosscutting industrial applications and impact in reducing industry’s energy footprint and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as supporting the global competitiveness of clean energy products. By targeting the development of energy-related advanced manufacturing technology, AMO’s work can create completely new supply chains and stimulate significant economic growth and job creation.

AMO’s Next Generation Electric Machines (NGEM) program is an RD&D effort leveraging recent technology advancements in power electronics and electric motors to develop a new generation of energy efficient, high power density, high speed, integrated MV drive systems for a wide variety of critical energy applications. Improvements to these systems can be realized through the application of key enabling technologies, such as wide bandgap devices, advanced magnetic materials, improved insulation materials, aggressive cooling techniques, high speed bearing designs, and improved conductors or superconducting materials. Through this development program, NGEM will facilitate a step-change that enables more efficient use of electricity, as well as reduced drive system size and weight, developing lasting capabilities for motor material development, design, and analysis that are cost-shared with industry stakeholders.

This specific Financial Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is focused on advancing three key enabling technologies that can take the development of electric machines a giant step further by addressing significant reductions in three major categories of energy losses in an electric machine. The FOA leverages on recent technical advancements made in nanomaterial research, 6.5wt% siliconizing process in electrical steel manufacturing, and improved in-field performance of high temperature superconductor technology to realize the complete vision of developing a new generation of energy efficient, high power density, high speed electric machines for a wide variety of critical energy applications.

EERE conducted an informational webinar on March 16, 2016 at 1:00pm EDT. The purpose of this webinar was to give applicants an overview of the FOA process generally. No new information was provided in the webinar. Attendance was not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any Applicant submissions.

A copy of the slides including a full transcript of the webinar can be downloaded below.

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.

***Amendment 000001 to DE-FOA-0001447***

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing, on behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), this FOA entitled “Advanced Systems Level Technology Development, Integration and Demonstration for Efficient Class 8 Trucks (SuperTruck II).”

The SuperTruck initiative seeks to reduce transportation fuel consumption by improving on-road truck fuel economy. SuperTruck I focused exclusively on long-haul Class 8 trucks and achieved freight efficiency improvements in excess of the 50 percent goal, on a ton-mile-per gallon basis, with many of the technologies ready for commercialization or nearing commercial readiness. SuperTruck I also identified additional opportunities for commercial truck efficiency improvements. For this reason, SuperTruck II includes more aggressive overall freight efficiency and engine brake thermal efficiency goals – specifically, a greater than 100 percent freight efficiency goal and greater than or equal to 55 percent engine brake thermal efficiency goal. In addition, SuperTruck II also requires demonstration of the same or improved vehicle performance (acceleration, gradeability) relative to a 2009 baseline and includes cost requirements to provide a shorter payback period for the fleet customer, which is needed to foster a more rapid market adoption of new energy efficient technologies. There is an opportunity for teams to consider Class 8 truck applications beyond long-haul as well.

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Join us for a Webinar on March 9, 2016

Title: DE-FOA-0001447, "Advanced Systems Level Technology Development, Integration and Demonstration for Efficient Class 8 Trucks (SuperTruck II)"

Date: March 9, 2016

Time: 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Please register for this webinar using the following link:

https: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8619515126272841476

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

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The RFI submission deadline is January 13, 2016.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to assess the level of interest among state and regional-level entities—including governmental, industrial, and academic organizations—in including renewable energy deployment into their energy strategies and in identifying specific challenge areas to address. For purposes of this RFI, renewable energy includes solar, wind, hydropower, and geothermal technologies. Renewable energy targets and strategic plans have been set at the state level for many years, sometimes including technology-specific plans and programs. As Renewable Portfolio Standards sunset in many states and as compliance requirements are launched for greenhouse gas reduction, states may wish either to establish or re-evaluate targets for renewable electricity deployment and/or consider the most beneficial paths for achieving those goals. This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)

The Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) is a key component of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) portfolio. The FCTO aims to provide clean, safe, secure, affordable, and reliable energy from diverse domestic resources, providing the benefits of increased energy security and reduced criteria pollutants and green-house gas emissions by adopting a technology–neutral approach toward applied research, development, and demonstration to address both key technical challenges for fuel cells and hydrogen fuels (i.e. hydrogen production, delivery and storage) and institutional barriers such as hydrogen codes and standards. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)’s Area of Interest (AOI) 1 covers topics within Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies Research and Development (R&D) which include advanced high-temperature water splitting, advanced compression, and advanced thermal insulation for automotive storage applications.

The eXCHANGE system enforces 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@ee.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@ee.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 purpose of Modification 0001 is to correct the SOPO page limit to 10 pages.

The intent of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to promote the advancement of geothermal energy conversion processes by validating technologies capable of providing a secondary income stream from the same geo-fluids. Methods for economically capturing, concentrating, and/or purifying valuable materials contained within geothermal brines represent an opportunity to both meet critical U.S. materials needs and broaden, as well as strengthen, the value-proposition of geothermal energy operations. Results from this work can enhance current applications, support planned development, and potentially open additional regions in the U.S. for economic utilization of geothermal energy.

This FOA invites responses in two (2) general topic areas, outlined below. Collaboration among industry, national laboratories, and academic institutions is encouraged; teaming will be strongly considered during the application reviews. Applicants will also be encouraged to coordinate activities with the Department of Energy (DOE) Critical Materials Institute led by Ames Laboratory.

Topic Area 1: Engineering Validation of Existing Extraction Technologies
Responses to this Topic Area are to validate processes or procedures to recover these materials from geothermal fluids or produced waters. Proposals may include processes currently effective in other industries that may be transferable to high value/critical material/strategic materials extraction from geothermal fluids, or processes that already experimentally demonstrate effectiveness for material recovery.

Topic Area 2: U.S. Regional or Nationwide Assessment of High Value Materials in U.S. Geothermal Fluids and Produced Fluids
For the this Topic Area, the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) seeks approaches to economically and quickly build a public, U.S.-wide resource assessment of dissolved critical and high-value materials that may be site-specific, region-wide, or a national assessment. A successful application will demonstrate expertise in geologic regimes as well as sampling and analysis.

The EERE 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 applications.

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.

Please click "FOA FAQs" under the "FOA Documents" heading below for Questions and Answers specific to this FOA.

A webinar for this FOA was held on Tuesday, December 8, 2015. To view the webinar document, please download the "FOA Applicant Webinar Presentation" PDF, from the FOA Documents section below.

This is a request for information from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) concerning advanced thermal insulation for sub-ambient temperature alternative fuel storage systems. DOE requests information on how to maintain vacuum stability of systems, use of advanced composites within the systems, and accelerated test methods to determine performance and applicability of materials and systems for long-term cold and cryogenic based alternative fuel storage systems for onboard vehicle applications. Alternative fuels could include hydrogen or natural gas stored onboard the vehicle at sub-ambient temperatures as a compressed gas, liquefied gas or adsorbed onto a porous material.

This is solely a request for information and not a FOA; therefore, DOE is not accepting applications at this time. DOE will not respond to questions related to this RFI.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to H2Storage@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm ET on 11/06/2015. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email.

PLEASE NOTE:

The announcement was modified on October 15, 2015 to delete the Letter of Intent submission requirement. Full Applications are still due in EERE Exchange by Thursday October 29, 2015 at 5:00PM ET.

Please see "Modification_000001_-_2017_Solar_Decathlon_Team_Competition_DE-FOA-0001398" in the FOA Documents section below.

(EERE) seeks applicants to its 2017 Solar Decathlon College Team Competition. This Competition supports the Obama administration’s commitment to improving the nation’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education efforts, and to building a more knowledge-intensive workforce. The Department of Energy (DOE) and EERE are eager to create and support education and workforce development programs that are specific to applied energy, and are essential to carrying out DOE’s mission and advancing energy technologies for the future.

One of America’s most pressing and technically difficult scientific and engineering challenges is developing new and better technologies to supply clean and renewable energy. As the nation’s demand for energy increases and the energy sector grows to meet these needs, the United States faces an impending shortage of the skilled workforce needed to support this sector. An educated and highly-trained workforce is imperative if it is to support today’s low-carbon economy as it develops—and lead it to tomorrow. Finding solutions to these challenges is critical today and for America’s future. For this reason, DOE’s Strategic Plan supports developing and providing educational and technical training opportunities for students and for the workforce.

Since its inception in 2000, the Solar Decathlon has been a high-profile DOE-branded education and workforce development program for university-level students. It culminates in a competition that is a public demonstration of EERE technologies that promotes energy efficiency and increases awareness about residential energy use; fostering greater adoption of clean energy technologies. The competition demonstrates that an aesthetically beautiful and well-designed house can generate enough thermal and electrical energy to meet the needs of a single family household. At the bi-annual Solar Decathlons, first in Washington, D.C. and then in Irvine, California, 65,000-100,000 visitors have toured the houses to see student teams’ use of EERE technologies in action. More information about past Solar Decathlons is available at http://www.solardecathlon.gov.

The Solar Decathlon’s wide audience includes collegiate student teams, the building industry, the sustainable and clean energy industries, homeowners, and general public consumers. The student teams pursue multidisciplinary approaches to meet DOE’s requirements in designing, building, and operating energy-efficient, solar-powered houses. The program’s technology showcase educates the attending public and industry professionals about the benefits, affordability, and availability of clean energy solutions, with research papers, media coverage, and digital outreach serving as tools to amplify this message.

DOE is inviting collegiate teams of creative designers and innovators to enter this competition. For the first time in a Solar Decathlon competition, DOE intends to offer monetary prizes. For the Solar Decathlon 2017, DOE will award up to $2,000,000 in prizes to teams that are selected to participate via this Notice, and that bring an eligible house to the Solar Decathlon competition. The prizes will be awarded to the same 20 lead organizational entities that submit applications to DOE under this competition and are selected by DOE to compete, and that complete a house for the Solar Decathlon. Recipients will receive no Federal funding up front, but will be eligible for prize money upon completion of the competition.

The competition is open to all collegiate teams in the United States and around the world, but the focus is on design solutions for the United States.

Please see the full Competition Notice and Notice FAQs regarding the content of the Notice in the FOA Documents section below.

(Applicants interested in applying to the Solar Decathlon Program Administrator Funding Opportunity Announcement should refer to DE-FOA-0001371 posted in EERE Exchange.

The Information Webinar was held on September 2, 2015 for potential applicants. A PDF of the slides presented are in the FOA Documents section and a recording of the Webinar is available at this link:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/2576491463878152961

DOE is aware of the issue of being unable to upload a PDF Document in the Letter of Intent phase. To resolve that issue, please enter all the requested information into the data Fields of the Letter of Intent screen and enter a brief (200 words) explanation of the proposed project in the "Abstract" field. Once that is done and all the information is entered, click on the "Create Letter of Intent" button. When an Applicant creates a Letter of Intent it is automatically submitted to DOE and the Applicant will receive an email notifying them that the Letter of Intent has been submitted.

There is nothing further required of the Applicant in the Letter of Intent Phase. The next step is to complete and submit a Full Application by the FOA Closing Date.

Please be aware the under the "Status" Column in EERE Exchange your Application will show as "Not Submitted". This refers to the Full Application status, not the Letter of Intent Status. The confirmation email sent to the Applicant (referenced above) serves as the record of your Letter of Intent Submittal.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

(EERE) seeks applicants to its Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0001371, Solar Decathlon Program Administrator. This FOA will support the Obama administration’s commitment to improving the nation’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education efforts, and to building a more knowledge-intensive workforce. The Department of Energy (DOE) and EERE are eager to create and support education and workforce development programs that are specific to applied energy, and are essential to carrying out DOE’s mission and advancing energy technologies for the future.

One of America’s most pressing and technically difficult scientific and engineering challenges is developing new and better technologies to supply clean and renewable energy. As the nation’s demand for energy increases and the energy sector grows to meet these needs, the United States faces an impending shortage of the skilled workforce needed to support this sector. An educated and highly-trained workforce is imperative if it is to support today’s low-carbon economy as it develops—and lead it to tomorrow. Finding solutions to these challenges is critical today and for America’s future. For this reason, DOE’s Strategic Plan supports developing and providing educational and technical training opportunities for students and for the workforce.

Since its inception in 2000, the Solar Decathlon has been a high-profile DOE-branded education and workforce development program for university-level students. It culminates in a competition that is a public demonstration of EERE technologies that promotes energy efficiency and increases awareness about residential energy use; fostering greater adoption of clean energy technologies. The competition demonstrates that an aesthetically beautiful and well-designed house can generate enough thermal and electrical energy to meet the needs of a single family household. At the bi-annual Solar Decathlons, first in Washington, D.C. and then in Irvine, California, 65,000-100,000 visitors have toured the houses to see student teams’ use of EERE technologies in action. More information about past Solar Decathlons is available at http://www.solardecathlon.gov.

The Solar Decathlon’s wide audience includes collegiate student teams, the building industry, the sustainable and clean energy industries, homeowners, and general public consumers. The student teams pursue multidisciplinary approaches to meet DOE’s requirements in designing, building, and operating energy-efficient, solar-powered houses. The program’s technology showcase educates the attending public and industry professionals about the benefits, affordability, and availability of clean energy solutions, with research papers, media coverage, and digital outreach serving as tools to amplify this message.Under this Funding Opportunity Announcement, DOE intends to select one recipient to organize, manage, and conduct the Solar Decathlon competitions in 2017 and 2019. This includes identifying and providing the competition location/venue, soliciting sponsorships, hosting the competitions, awarding prize money to the competitors, and promoting the mission and goals of DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy through educational programs and outreach. A key near-term requirement will be to identify a new location/venue for the 2017 Solar Decathlon.

DOE is seeking applicants for the 2017 Solar Decathlon College Team Competition under a separate Notice. See FOA DE-FOA-00001398 for details.

Please see the complete FOA document and the "FOA FAQs.xslx" spreadsheet in the "FOA Documents" section below.

The Information Webinar was held on September 2, 2015 for potential applicants. A PDF of the slides presented are in the FOA Documents section and a recording of the Webinar is available at this link:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/756755739443904257

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) has issued, on behalf of the Technology-to-Market Team in the Office of Strategic Programs, a Notice of Intent (NOI), to notify interested parties of EERE’s intention to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the 2017 Solar Decathlon. Please see the full NOI in the "FOA Documents" section below.

The Solar Decathlon is a high-profile DOE-branded education and workforce development program for university-level students. The two-year program culminates in a competition among 20 solar-powered, high efficiency houses designed and built by multidisciplinary collegiate teams. The competition also serves as a public demonstration of EERE technologies. The competition demonstrates that an aesthetically beautiful and well-designed house can generate enough thermal and electrical energy to meet the needs of a single-family household. More information about past Solar Decathlons is available at http://www.solardecathlon.gov.

It is anticipated that the FOA may include the following Areas of Interest:

Topic 1: Solar Decathlon Program Administrator Selection -

DOE intends to select one recipient to organize, manage, and conduct the Solar Decathlon competitions in 2017 and 2019. This includes identifying and providing the competition location/venue, soliciting sponsorships, hosting the competitions, awarding prize money to the competitors, and promoting the mission and goals of DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy through educational programs and outreach. A key near-term requirement will be to identify a new location/venue for the Solar Decathlon. The estimated period of performance for the Solar Decathlon Program Administrator Selection award will be approximately four years.

Topic 2: Solar Decathlon College Team Selection -

The planned Funding Opportunity Announcement will seek up to 20 collegiate teams to compete in the Solar Decathlon competition. The challenge to the teams competing in the Solar Decathlon is, in less than 24 months, to safely and effectively design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. For the first time in a Solar Decathlon competition, DOE intends to offer monetary prizes. For the Solar Decathlon 2017, DOE will award up to $2,000,000 in prizes to teams that are selected to participate via the FOA, and that bring an eligible house to the Solar Decathlon competition. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency. There is no financial assistance provided for selected applicants under Topic 2. The prizes will be awarded to the same 20 lead organizational entities that submit applications to DOE under Topic 2, are selected by DOE to compete, and display their houses at the Solar Decathlon 2017 competition. The estimated time commitment for the Solar Decathlon Teams will be approximately two years.

Topic 2 will be open to all postsecondary education institution teams in the United States and around the world, but the competition focus is on design solutions for the United States. For more information about the competition, please visit http://www.solardecathlon.gov.

Please note that no applications will be accepted through this NOI. Please do not submit questions or respond to this NOI. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. Prospective applicants to the planned 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 the EERE Exchange website (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov) in late August 2015. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

This is solely a request for information and not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). EERE is not accepting applications through this RFI. The Department of Energy (DOE) will not respond to questions regarding this RFI.

For this RFI, the DOE Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) seeks input on ideas in three (3) categories to encourage increased development of geothermal resources through recovery of dissolved critical materials.

The first category is to explore the opportunities to conduct extensive engineering validation testing of feasible technologies or processes that can efficiently and cost-effectively capture, concentrate, and/or purify high-value materials, that may be contained in geothermal fluids and process streams. GTO seeks to broaden the assessment of available or possible approaches by exploring methodologies that may be adaptable from extractive industries such as oil and gas, mining, and other industries that may utilize chemicals, resins or other approaches to remove, purify or process a material.

The second category is to query concepts and approaches for leveraging methods in use or being considered for commercial applications in the geothermal and mining industries. Ideas are sought for combined drilling technologies, rock stimulation technologies such as those used in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and mineral extraction technologies as currently applied in solution mining.

The third category is to broaden the database of knowledge about the existence and concentration of the high-value materials in U.S. geothermal fluids or low-temperature process streams from other operations, such as oil and gas production. The information sought may be site-specific mineral content and/or an overall assessment of the U.S. mineral resource base in geothermal and other produced fluids.

The full RFI can be accessed under the "FOA Documents" heading below.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to LowTValidation@hq.doe.gov no later than 5pm ET on Monday, June 8th. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is seeking information on risk quantification and management in geothermal exploration, especially as it pertains to decision making in late stage exploration activities such as drilling and advanced geophysical surveys.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues of cost and risk reduction related to geothermal exploration. This is due in part to the lack of response to the 2014 Play Fairway Analysis Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) by Geothermal Industry operators and developers.  DOE's Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) is specifically interested in information on current opportunities to develop, test, and validate risk and uncertainty models for prospects that have already been identified by industry.

This is solely a request for information and not a FOA; therefore, DOE is not accepting applications at this time. DOE will not respond to questions related to this RFI.

The full RFI document can be accessed under the "FOA Documents" heading below.

Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to playfairway@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00pm ET on 4/24/2015. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. 

Please note: the deadline to reply to reviewer comments has changed to April 11, 2015 at 5:00PM Eastern.

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Building upon the successful outcomes of the 2012 SunShot CSP R&D FOA, the CSP: Advanced Projects Offering Low LCOE Opportunities FOA seeks to further CSP system technologies by soliciting transformative projects for all of the components of a CSP plant. These innovative projects will seek to meet the targets set out in the SunShot Vision Study, enabling CSP to be cost-competitive with conventional forms of electric power generation. Projects will address challenges in every technical system of the plant, including solar collectors, receivers and heat transfer fluids, thermal energy storage, power cycles, as well as operations and maintenance, which have not been previously specifically targeted by CSP FOAs.

Informational Webinar: 10/10/2014 @ 3PM Eastern

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/508346624