EERE eXCHANGE: FAQs

Question 1: Do you plan to issue a FOA, soliciting technology that has to do with Ocean wave energy conversion into electricity?
Answer 1: DOE releases financial assistance funding opportunity announcements through EERE EXCHANGE (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/) and Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov). Please monitor both of these websites for future financial assistance opportunities.

Question 2: How radical of a turbine design might you consider? Are you able and willing to have a discussion with us and our applied research investigators? Could you then please encourage us or discourage us from this submission?
Answer 2:

DOE cannot provide advice on whether an application should be submitted. Please carefully review Section I of the FOA document here - https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/ - to determine whether your concept fits the “Area of Interest” of the FOA.” Please pay particular attention to the section I.B and I.C which outline what DOE is, and is not, interested in for this FOA. As stated in section I.B, “Applicants should propose to design an integrated hydropower turbine generator system that applies advanced materials and/or additive manufacturing techniques and produce a prototype unit at an appropriate scale to enable in-water performance testing in a laboratory environment.”

As stated in Section IV.C of the FOA, “EERE makes an independent assessment of each Concept Paper based on the criteria in Section V.A.1 of the FOA. EERE will encourage a subset of Applicants to submit Full Applications. Other Applicants will be discouraged from submitting a Full Application. An applicant who receives a “discouraged” notification may still submit a Full Application. EERE will review all compliant and responsive Full Applications. However, by discouraging the submission of a Full Application, EERE intends to convey its lack of programmatic interest in the proposed project in an effort to save the Applicant the time and expense of preparing an application that is unlikely to be selected for award negotiations.”

Upon the issuance of a FOA, EERE personnel are prohibited from communicating (in writing or otherwise) with Applicants regarding the FOA except through the established question and answer process as described below. Specifically, questions regarding the content of this FOA must be submitted to: WaterMfg@go.doe.gov not later than 3 business days prior to the application due date. All questions and answers related to this FOA will be posted on EERE Exchange at: https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. Please note that you must first select this specific FOA Number in order to view the questions and answers specific to this FOA. EERE will attempt to respond to a question within 3 business days, unless a similar question and answer has already been posted on the website. Questions related to the registration process and use of the EERE Exchange website should be submitted to: EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov.

Question 3: Please provide the time and email address of the April 23rd webinar.
Answer 3:

Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

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

The purpose of this webinar is to give Applicants a chance to ask questions about the FOA process generally. Attendance is not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any Applicant submissions. As the webinar will be open to all Applicants who wish to participate, Applicants should refrain from asking questions or communicating information that would reveal confidential and/or proprietary information specific to their project.

Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Time: 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM MDT

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

Question 4: 1. Can foreign companies apply for this? 2. I am unable to find a full description of solicitation. Can you guide me to where I can find that? I looked at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/#FoaIdc90191bb-be9d-4197-8947-2e419e347779, but it tells very little.
Answer 4:

1. Foreign entities can apply for this FOA, however there are some conditions to their eligibility. Please read the FOA, Section III.A.3. Foreign Entities in its entirety for the eligibility requirements.

2. The full description of the FOA can be found at the link you provided under "FOA Documents". Click the document listed under the "FOA Documents" heading and a .pdf version of the full FOA will open.

Question 5: Our reading of the FOA is that a proposed project would NOT be eligible unless it specifically includes power generation in the design; hence a method of fish transport, while perhaps a necessary component of a new power generation site, would in and of itself not be eligible for funding under this FOA. Can you please confirm if this is correct, or, if we are interpreting it incorrectly and may be eligible, please advise? Assuming our understanding is correct, are you able to advise if there are other funding opportunities for which innovative fish transport, associated with hydropower sites, would be eligible?
Answer 5:

DOE cannot provide advice on whether an application should be submitted. You are encouraged to carefully review Section I of the FOA document to determine whether your concept fits the “Area of Interest” of the FOA.” Please pay particular attention to Sections I.B and I.C which outline what DOE is, and is not, interested in for this FOA. As stated in section I.B, “Applicants should propose to design an integrated hydropower turbine generator system that applies advanced materials and/or additive manufacturing techniques and produce a prototype unit at an appropriate scale to enable in-water performance testing in a laboratory environment.”

Furthermore, as stated in Section IV.C of the FOA, “EERE makes an independent assessment of each Concept Paper based on the criteria in Section V.A.1 of the FOA. EERE will encourage a subset of Applicants to submit Full Applications. Other Applicants will be discouraged from submitting a Full Application. An applicant who receives a “discouraged” notification may still submit a Full Application. EERE will review all compliant and responsive Full Applications. However, by discouraging the submission of a Full Application, EERE intends to convey its lack of programmatic interest in the proposed project in an effort to save the Applicant the time and expense of preparing an application that is unlikely to be selected for award negotiations.”

As it pertains to fish transport technologies, DOE does not comment on future funding opportunity announcements prior to their release. Please monitor the EERE Exchange website - https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/ - for opportunities that your organization may be interested in, and eligible to apply for, in the future.

Question 6: Is it possible to get a link to stream the webinar over the web?
Answer 6:

Yes. The webinar slides and the link to view the webinar with recorded audio are now posted to EERE Exchange.

https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaIdc90191bb-be9d-4197-8947-2e419e347779

Question 7: 1. We have developed an advanced Power Take Off (PTO) system for hydro turbines through two Phase I SBIR programs but have not yet produced a full prototype system. Our design seems to meet all of the eligibility requirements listed, but I am wondering how the program defines marine hydrokinetic systems (MHK) as opposed to conventional hydropower. Our technology significantly reduces the size and cost of both types of systems, but I want to be clear in the concept paper that this grant will be used for conventional hydropower. When I click the link that I presume defines MHK in the FOA, nothing happens. Could you please provide clarification on the primary differences you see between the two? 2. Would it be possible to view the presentation from the webinar?
Answer 7:

1. MHK is defined in Section 632 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007:
"SEC. 632. DEFINITION. For purposes of this subtitle, the term ''marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy'' means electrical energy from-
(1) waves, tides, and currents in oceans, estuaries, and tidal areas;
(2) free flowing water in rivers, lakes, and streams;
(3) free flowing water in man-made channels; and
(4) differentials in ocean temperature (ocean thermal energy conversion).
The term ''marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy'' does not include energy from any source that uses a dam, diversionary structure, or impoundment for electric power purposes."

2. The webinar slides and the audio presentation are both posted to Exchange. https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/#FoaIdc90191bb-be9d-4197-8947-2e419e347779

Question 8: Given that DOE FFRDCs and GOGOs are eligible to apply as a Prime or Sub-Recipient, to what extent is this an open competition? What assurances can you give non-DOE entities that this solicitation is not wired?
Answer 8:

All Applicants (listed in Section III of the FOA) are eligible to apply for this FOA. All Applicants are subject to the same objective review process as outlined in the FOA. All applications are reviewed based on the technical review criteria listed in the FOA, regardless of the entity type.

Question 9: Please define better and with more examples what is meant by advanced manufacturing. And does it have to be in a laboratory environment on a small scale? We are working with a utility that has available conduits.
Answer 9:

1. We are looking to apply current state of the art manufacturing techniques to an industry that has traditionally relied on casting of steel and stainless steel manufacturing techniques. So, advanced manufacturing means additive manufacturing techniques, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing techniques. As cited in the webinar, technologies that minimize how much finishing work needs to be done, techniques that minimize material usage or material waste, those types of things.

2. If field-level demonstration can be accomplished for the funding that is provided, the Program would be very receptive to that. In considering the amount of funding that is available, the Program did not want to stress perspective applicants to do too much with a limited amount of funding. The Program is open and accepting of laboratory-scale testing, but if for the available funding, a potential applicant can do field-level testing, in a real world environment, the Program would be very accepting of that.

Question 10: Will intellectual property be protected?
Answer 10:

See the following sections of the FOA, Section VIII.L, Section VIII.M, Section VIII.N. and Section VI.C.11. If additional information is needed, please submit your question to WaterMfg@go.doe.gov.

Question 11: When is EERE's involvement in the proposed effort (as outlined in Section VI.C.8 of the FOA Statement of Substantial Involvement), identified? Is this expected to be described in the proposal or will EERE's involvement be determined during negotiation or a different alternative?
Answer 11:

EERE's involvement begins during award negotiations. EERE does not get involved in the development or submission of an application. Once a project is selected for negotiations, at that point, EERE will work with the Recipient in the ways described in the Substantial Involvement section of the FOA (see Section VI.C.10). The substantial involvement begins at award negotiations and continues through the life cycle of the project itself.

Question 12: Is there any loss of intellectual property rights participating in this program?
Answer 12:

See the following sections of the FOA, Section VIII.L, Section VIII.M, Section VIII.N. and Section VI.C.11.

Question 13: The executive summary and Section I.B of the subject FOA includes the text “prototype unit at an appropriate scale to enable in-water performance testing in a laboratory environment. The project should include design, in-water performance testing,”. What are the definitions of “laboratory environment” and “appropriate scale” that DOE will use to screen and evaluate proposals? Would a small hydropower prototype manufactured and tested at full scale in an appropriately instrumented field setting qualify as a laboratory environment?
Answer 13:

Yes, the example put forth in the question would apply. See also FAQ #9. The Program is intentionally not defining scale, because if you are at the lower end of the head range, that is a very different scale than if you are at the upper end of the head range. So, it is up to the Applicant to define and justify the scale and the associated testing needed to advance the technology readiness of the proposed system.

Question 14: Regarding duns number and sam number - do we need to have for submission of concept paper or must have after concept paper submission but before final application?
Answer 14:

Obtaining a DUNS number and registering in SAM is required for receiving an award from DOE, however it is not required for the submission of a concept paper or a full application. It is highly recommended that you start the registration process as soon as possible, because it can take several weeks to complete. The only registration required to submit a concept paper and a full application, is the registration in EERE Exchange.

Question 15: How many project awards are expected, and what is the typical funding level per award?
Answer 15:

See Section II.A.1 of the FOA. EERE expects to make approximately $4.4 million of Federal funding available for new awards under this FOA subject to the availability of appropriated funds. EERE anticipates making approximately two awards under this FOA. EERE may issue one, multiple, or no awards. Individual awards may vary up to $2.2 million.

Question 16: Can the lab testing be done in our facility?
Answer 16:

Laboratory testing can be done anywhere where the desired performance testing results can be accomplished. DOE will be looking at the capabilities of the laboratory as the Applicant defines it in the application. Obviously, not all laboratories are equal. Some differences may include: instrumentation, degree of instrumentation, and the ability to control flows and heads to duplicate real world situations. An Applicant that proposes a more rigorous testing regime would be rated more highly that an Applicant that proposes a less rigorous or less instrumented regime.

Question 17: Conduits do descend very slowly. Can you define whether that can be defined as head if the top of the conduit to the bottom is, for example, 10 feet?
Answer 17:

Yes, 10 feet is within the acceptable range. See Section I.A of the FOA. As long as it is reliant on head for the power generation, then it is a part of the hydropower spectrum.

Question 18: Can a proposal incorporate innovations in civil works as well as the turbine itself?
Answer 18:

See Sections I.A, I.B and I.C of the FOA for a description of the FOA objectives. The innovation on the civil side would be a discriminator that could weigh in between two equally rated proposals. But, DOE is really looking for applications of advanced materials and advanced manufacturing techniques to turbine generator design. So, as long as the Applicant can weave an effective storyline as to how the civil works plays into that, than it could serve as a positive discriminator.

Question 19: The Water Power FOA 1006 says that “EERE expects to make approximately $4.4 million of Federal funding available for new awards under this FOA subject to the availability of appropriated funds. EERE anticipates making approximately two awards under this FOA. EERE may issue one, multiple, or no awards. Individual awards may vary up to $2.2 million.” Would EERE consider grants for considerably less money than $2.2 million under this FOA? Is there a minimum amount? We realize that more grants mean more work for EERE under the cooperative agreements.
Answer 19: Yes, DOE will consider projects with budgets less than the maximum amount per award; as long as the project will still meet the objectives of the FOA. As stated in section I.B, “Applicants should propose to design an integrated hydropower turbine generator system that applies advanced materials and/or additive manufacturing techniques and produce a prototype unit at an appropriate scale to enable in-water performance testing in a laboratory environment.” There is no minimum award amount specified in the FOA.

Question 20: We know that EERE cannot give advice on whether to submit a concept paper. Nonetheless, we want to know whether a new hydro turbine design which might normally be considered a marine and hydrokinetic application can still qualify under the last sentence exception specified in Section 632 of the Energy Security and Independence Act. In particular, if a turbine works in " existing constrained waterways (to include canals and conduits) " does that mean that it is not considered to be an ineligible marine and hydrokinetic application because it is "energy from any source that uses a dam, diversionary structure, or impoundment for electric power purposes."?
Answer 20: If the device can produce energy utilizing the “head” from a dam, diversionary structure, or impoundment; then the technology would qualify for this funding opportunity announcement.

Question 21: The last paragraph in section 1.A on page 3, specifies a preference for additive manufacturing to be included in any project submitted. This seems to be directly at odds with 3rd and 4th bullet points of the previous paragraph specifying the minimization of manufacturing cost. I personally have experience with additive manufacturing and have found that it is usually (but not always) the fastest way to obtain a representational part under design consideration, at high cost. Materials and processes have improve significantly over time, but I am not aware of any example of any part manufactured using any additive process being less expensive than a machined part. Although the machined component may have been forged or molded or welded (polymers or metals) before material removal to achieve a precise geometry and/or finish. DoD & aerospace components given as an example do not seem like a worthwhile comparison as they are frequently known for their high cost. Preferring additive manufacturing methods seems to be directly at-odds with the requirement for low cost. Are additive manufacturing methods actually preferred for this FOA and would an applicant be penalized for not including such methods?
Answer 21:

As stated in the FOA in section 1.B, “Applicants should propose to design an integrated hydropower turbine generator system that applies advanced materials and/or additive manufacturing techniques and produce a prototype unit at an appropriate scale to enable in-water performance testing in a laboratory environment.” One of the goals for this FOA is to bring advanced materials and/or advanced manufacturing techniques into the hydropower industry with the intention of working towards lower LCOE at production scales in the future.

Question 22: 1. To what extent should the concept paper provide details about the proposed prototype(s) and project plan vs the underlying technology? The instructions in Section IV-C.1 focus only on the technology rather than an in-depth explanation of the proposed workplan. 2. Should the concept paper include a budget description and budget justification along with a project plan (ie milestones vs quarter or similar)? 3. Is it required to identify the entire project team, including collaborators, at the concept paper stage? We are in the process of choosing between a number of potential testing facilities (laboratories) for example, and may not be able to finalize the selection until after the concept paper is submitted.
Answer 22: 1. The concept paper should provide adequate details about the underlying technology so that an appropriate level of understanding of the operating principles of the protoype can be gained.

2. The Concept Paper requirements are described in Section IV.C.1 of the FOA. A budget and budget justification are not required at the Concept Paper stage, but are required with the Full Application. You are, however, required to fill out information in EERE Exchange prior to uploading and submitting the Concept Paper. The “Funds and Costs” tab requires you to enter the proposed federal share and the proposed cost share amounts. This is the only budgetary information that is required for the Concept Paper.

3. Applicants should identify the Project Team to the greatest extent possible. If it is not yet finalized, applicants are encouraged to provide the current options being considered.

Question 23: How do I submit my FOA-0001006 Concept Paper?
Answer 23:

Please visit the FOA on EERE-Exchange at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/#FoaIdc90191bb-be9d-4197-8947-2e419e347779 and click APPLY.

Question 24: We have a client that is applying for a grant under DE-FOA-0001006. They have equipment that they will be partially using on this project and partially using for other purposes. Some of this equipment is relatively new and some of it is fully depreciated. The client would like to know if there is an acceptable method to determine the cost portion that may be included in the budget justification file?
Answer 24: If Equipment will be used on multiple projects, it should be included in the Recipient’s indirect cost pool and accounted for in Indirect costs. If the equipment is being solely used for the DOE project, a usage fee or a depreciation fee can be used to value the equipment. See Appendix B, Section (B)(1) “Valuing and documenting contributions” for more information.

Question 25: The FOA clearly addresses the application of advanced materials and advanced manufacturing techniques to the development of new hydropower technologies, with the aim to leverage existing water resource infrastructure such as dams and/or man-made conduits and canals. Can you please clarify if it is the intent of the FOA to support "the development of low-cost, integrated hydropower turbine-generator sets" as cited on page 3 of the FOA, or is the intent to also support broader infrastructure development?
Answer 25:

The intent of this FOA is to support the application of advanced materials and advanced manufacturing techniques to the development and testing of next-generation, integrated hydropower turbine-generator sets. It is not the intent of this FOA to support the development of civil works nor supporting infrastructure.

Question 26: The reviewer comments pointed out items that were not required in the description of the concept paper.
Answer 26:

The concept paper encourage/discourage notice is not binding. The comments reflect reviewer opinions based on the merit review criteria listed in the FOA. It is recommended that applicants take this feedback into consideration when deciding whether, or not, to submit a full application.

Question 27: We would like to submit an application for the water power manufacturing grant DE-FOA-0001006 but did not realize that the initial concept paper was a requirement. Would it still be possible for us to submit an application for the grant?
Answer 27: Unfortunately, no. Per the FOA, in order to be eligible to submit a Full Application, the Applicant was required to have submitted a compliant and responsive Concept Paper by the submission deadline of the Concept Paper.

Question 28: I am in the process of completing the full application for this FOA and have the following questions: For Form SF -424: What is the CFDA Number and Title for this project? What is the FON and Title for this project? What is the Competition Number and ID for this project?
Answer 28:

The CFDA Number is 81.087 and the title is Renewable Energy Research and Development.

The Funding Opportunity Number is DE-FOA-0001006 and the title is Water Power Manufacturing.

There is no Competition Number or ID for this FOA, so please leave that box blank.

Question 29: I am trying to login in to the grants.gov online system. I was given the message email not found in system. I have already submitted a concept paper for this grant opportunity (DE-FOA-0001006) and I was assigned a Control Number. Can you please help me login to the system again?
Answer 29: Full Applications for this FOA must be submitted through EERE Exchange (eere-exchange.energy.gov/), not grants.gov. Please log on to EERE Exchange to submit your Full Application. If you are having trouble logging in to EERE Exchange, please contact the EERE Exchange helpdesk at EERE-ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov.

Question 30: Our team is writing a full proposal for DE-FOA-0001006: Water Power Manufacturing. What is the page limit for the “US Manufacturing Plans”? This item is called on page 18 as a separate item, and on page 24 it is included in the Technical Volume table, albeit without the qualifier “US”. Is it part of the Technical Volume (thus subject to the overall 25 page limit), or is a separate item, with no particular page limit?
Answer 30:

The US Manufacturing Plan is described in Section IV.D.12 of the FOA. It is a separate document from the Technical Volume and does not have a specific page limit. The Technical Volume does require a section that discusses the Manufacturing Plan and involves the following requirement: “The Technical Volume should include a manufacturing plan that estimates the material and process requirements for full‐scale production of the design, noting where particular processes will not scale adequately from prototype to production scale.” That information is all that needs to be included in the Technical Volume, and must be included in the 25 page limit for the Technical Volume. The complete US Manufacturing Plan should be uploaded as a stand-alone document.

Question 31: 1. Can the PI be from an organization other than the Prime recipient? 2. If the PI needs to be affiliated with the Prime Recipient, can this be done after the submission and before the grant starts (for instance the PI could become an employee or a partner of the Prime Recipient sometime between submission and grant award?
Answer 31:

1. The PI does not need to be affiliated with the Prime Recipient, however they should be affiliated with the proposed project, in some way. For example, an employee of a Sub-Recipient organization could be the PI.

2. Yes, this would be acceptable.

Frequently Asked Questions