DOE announced the availability of up to $63 million to enable state and local governments to expand battery recycling and modernize American manufacturing by making cutting edge technologies like advanced sensors and modeling more accessible to small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs). This funding opportunity advances next-generation tools and resources to achieve the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious goal of a net-zero economy by 2050 and will help revitalize and strengthen America’s global leadership in manufacturing.

Through the two Areas of Interest (AOIs), the FOA will provide approximately $63 million in support of programs by state or local government entities with the following purposes:

• AOI 1: State Manufacturing Leadership Program (SMLP)
• AOI 2: State and Local Battery Collection, Recycling, and Reprocessing Program

This program provides loan guarantees up to $250 million to assist in the development, construction, and retrofitting of new and emerging technologies. These technologies are: advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals and biobased products. To apply, you must have legal authority, experience, and expertise and demonstrate that you meet the FDIC definition of “Well Capitalized” at the time of application and issuance of the Loan Note Guarantee, including:

• Federal or state-chartered banks.
• Federally-recognized tribes.
• Cooperatives.
• Farm Credit Bank, or other Farm Credit System institution with direct lending authority.
• Credit Unions subject to credit examination and supervision by a state agency or the National Credit Union Administration.
• The National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation.

The NSF SBIR/STTR and SBIR/STTR Fast-Track pilot programs support moving scientific excellence and technological innovation from the lab to the market. These NSF SBIR/STTR Fast-Track pilot programs provide fixed amount cooperative agreements for the development of a broad range of technologies based on discoveries in science and engineering with potential for societal and economic impacts. Under a traditional NSF SBIR/STTR Phase I award, a small business can receive non-dilutive funding for research and development (R&D) to demonstrate technical feasibility over 6 to 12 months and then, after completion of a Phase I project, companies may apply for Phase II funding to further develop the proposed technology.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are highly competitive programs that encourage domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) with the potential for commercialization. Topics for the Department of Energy’s FY 2025 SBIR/STTR Phase I Release 1 Funding Opportunity Announcement have been issued and are available on our website: https://science.osti.gov/sbir/Funding-Opportunities. The following DOE program offices are participating in this solicitation:

• Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
• Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
• Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
• Office of High Energy Physics (HEP)
• Office of Nuclear Physics (NP)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, is seeking proposals from the small businesses to develop novel environmental technologies in the following topics areas: clean and safe water, air quality and climate, homeland security, circular economy/sustainable materials, safer chemicals.

The DOE Voucher Program builds bridges between U.S. entrepreneurs, businesses, technology developers or other relevant partners and third-party voucher providers to advance commercialization of innovative energy technologies. Voucher Opportunity 9 (VO-9) addresses key adoption risk areas faced by industrial facilities interested in decarbonizing their operations. The first submission window solicits capability statements from potential voucher providers. Please note that this opportunity is focused on promising technologies for process, application, and equipment decarbonization that are not yet currently deployed at scale. Examples of activities of interest under this opportunity include:

• Assessment and validation of current emissions and opportunities for decarbonization;
• Planning (including technical feasibility, engineering, business case, financing, etc.) for implementation and execution of decarbonization projects;
• Independent validation of decarbonization opportunities based on new technologies;
• Third-party assessment and validation of industrial decarbonization technologies, practices, and claims; and
• Performance validation support for industrial decarbonization technology developers.

The DOE Voucher Program builds bridges between U.S. entrepreneurs, businesses, technology developers or other relevant partners and third-party voucher providers to advance commercialization of innovative energy technologies. The first submission window solicits proposals from potential voucher providers. Voucher Opportunity (VO-4) includes support activities such as:

• Market analysis/research
• Marketing Materials development
• Go to Market strategy
• Product Scale up
• Patent landscape analysis
• Intellectual Property legal support
• and more.

The DOE Voucher Program builds bridges between U.S. entrepreneurs, businesses, technology developers or other relevant partners and third-party voucher providers to advance commercialization of innovative energy technologies. The first submission window solicits proposals from potential voucher providers. Voucher Opportunity (VO-3) enables expert assistance to help AHJs and related institutions understand new clean energy technology benefits and challenges, and support the demonstration of these technologies through activities including:

• Evaluating siting and permitting best practices developed by similar jurisdictions,
• Developing streamlined permitting processes,
• Educating first responders and related personnel on technology safety requirements and risks
• Evaluating locality infrastructure/logistical readiness to utilize the designated technologies,
• Supporting community engagement on related issues.

The DOE Voucher Program builds bridges between U.S. entrepreneurs, businesses, technology developers or other relevant partners and third-party voucher providers to advance commercialization of innovative energy technologies. The first submission window solicits proposals from potential voucher providers. Voucher Opportunity (VO-2) enables evaluation of technology performance and support for obtaining site and technology related certifications through supporting activities including:

• Access to advanced modeling and digitization resources,
• Testing to obtain industry-relevant certifications,
• System performance validation and testing under certification-relevant operating conditions,
• Digital twin development,
• Testing in real-world environments,
• and more.

The DOE Voucher Program builds bridges between U.S. entrepreneurs, businesses, technology developers or other relevant partners and third-party voucher providers to advance commercialization of innovative energy technologies. The first submission window solicits proposals from potential voucher providers. As part of the application form, potential providers will submit the details of their capability statement, including the technical scope, deliverables, price, and throughput of the capability. Voucher Opportunity (VO-1) addresses key adoption risk areas faced by companies leaving the research and development stage, through supporting activities including:

• Bankability studies (including insurability evaluation)
• Manufacturing/supply chain assessments
• Techno-economic analyses
• Lifecycle analyses
• Market readiness analyses
• Community benefit assessments
• and more.

With the Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize, teams of creative individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses will advance conceptual solutions to prototypes and finally to pilot validations to address challenges with the lithium-ion battery recycling supply chain. This new public contest aims to incentivize new submissions from battery industry entrepreneurs that demonstrate innovative solutions that work toward or deliver on the goal of the prize, while continuing to support the further development of Phase III winning solutions. This phase consists of two simultaneous competition tracks:

• Track 1: New Competitors —Legal business entities based in the United States with single process ideas, partial solutions or full concept solutions that enable or meet the prize goal. Track 1 is open to new participants and previous competitors of the Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Prize. A single business entity may participate as a new competitor, or teams may be comprised of multiple businesses.
• Track 2: Verified Competitors — Phase III winners are invited to further develop their concept solutions with the added support of a $100,000 noncash voucher to be spent at a Voucher Service Provider within the American-Made Network. Voucher work must support the continued validation and demonstration of their Phase III pilot-scale solutions.

The three-phase $2.25 million Silicon Carbide (SiC) Packaging Prize—launched by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Electricity—invites competitors to propose, design, build, and test state-of-the-art SiC packaging prototypes that move the industry beyond its current state. Competitors will describe their team, their plan to make progress toward SiC packaging, showcase their current prototypes, and provide evidence of their current metrics that are in alignment with the goals of the prize. The goal of this phase is to develop a set of design documents for a Phase 2 prototype which adheres to the requirements set.