With this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the DOE through the Fuel Cell Technologies (FCT) Program seeks to fund hydrogen pathway analyses to determine the most promising paths forward for the production and delivery of hydrogen, while also defining the key remaining challenges. The DOE will only accept applications that are responsive to the scope and topic area described below.
System-level analyses of hydrogen production and delivery technologies are needed to support selection of portfolio priorities through evaluations of technical progress and hydrogen cost status, as well as projections of technology timelines and benefits, and evaluation of the potential of production and delivery pathways to meet the FCT threshold cost goal of $2-$4/gge delivered and dispensed hydrogen by 2020. This effort will include annual cost analyses of key remaining challenges for technology pathways within the Hydrogen P&D sub-program portfolio using, primarily, the Hydrogen Analysis (H2A) model to determine status improvements resulting from technology advancements. For example, production pathways that may be considered under the direction of the FCT Program include, but are not limited to: reforming of biomass-derived renewable liquids for distributed production of hydrogen; distributed, semi-central and central water electrolysis; solar high-temperature water splitting; photoelectrochemical water splitting; and biological processes using micro-organisms for photolytic, fermentation, and microbial electrolysis for large-scale central hydrogen production.
An initial cost model validation by the recipient may be required. The validation will be done by defining a baseline cost based largely on data from a current industry accepted hydrogen production pathway which will be selected and approved by DOE’s P&D Team.
The recipient will be responsible for vetting all user-input values used in the H2A analysis and for clearly and precisely presenting the results and sensitivity analyses of the technologies/pathways analyzed. The recipient’s project will be subject to evaluation by system developers, independent peer review, and the DOE Annual Peer Review and Merit Evaluation process. Results of the evaluation will be used to determine whether the project will continue through the following years. The recipient will also be required to present results as needed to USDrive technology teams e.g., the Hydrogen Production Technology Team (HPTT). Project deliverables will include:
- Cost estimates and analyses, and their updates of hydrogen technology pathways as directed by DOE (with power point slides and written reports when requested) for distributed and central hydrogen production and delivery technologies/pathways
- Validation of cost model based on data from current industry accepted hydrogen production technologies and processes
- Final report documenting the results of the analyses including sensitivity analyses along with standard tornado charts to demonstrate critical correlation cost drivers
This FOA was Amended on 11/6/2012, as shown in the file below.