Demonstration and Commercialization (approx. TRL 6-9)

Water Power Projects: Innovative Technologies to Enable Low Impact Hydropower and Pumped Storage Hydropower Growth

This FOA seeks applications to address innovative solutions to retrofit non-powered dams with environmentally sustainable hydropower at a reasonable cost; applications to address development and testing technologies that mitigate challenges to pumped storage hydropower deployment, including market and revenue uncertainty, development costs and financing, long development timelines, permitting challenges, construction risks, and environmental impacts; and applications to address and encourage emerging organizations to support hydropower development. WPTO expects the amount of funding available for projects under this FOA will be approximately $14.5 million and cover the following topic areas:

1. Hydropower Retrofits for Non-Powered Dams;

2. Innovative Pumped Storage Hydropower Technologies; and

3. Hydropower R&D by Emerging Organizations.

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Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program

The SMART program was established to provide grants to eligible public sector agencies to conduct demonstration projects focused on advanced smart community technologies and systems in order to improve transportation efficiency and safety.

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Inventor’s Patent Academy

Patents protect inventions so that inventors can focus on their work and be compensated for it. But many people don’t know how to navigate the patenting process, or even where to start. That’s why The Inventor’s Patent Academy was created. This free, one-of-a-kind, e-learning course aims to help people understand the patenting process and get them ready to apply for their own patent. It also explores challenges inventors may face along the way—particularly those that typically affect women, people of color, veterans, low-income individuals, people with disabilities, and other underrepresented inventors—and provides advice to overcome them.

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FLoating Offshore Wind ReadINess (FLOWIN) Prize – Phase 1

This $5.75 million prize was launched by the Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) to pave the way for the cost-effective domestic manufacturing and deployment of commercial utility-scale floating offshore wind energy turbines in U.S. waters. Up to eight winning teams will receive $100,000 each in cash and $75,000 each in vouchers for technical support provided by DOE national laboratories. The winning Phase 1 submissions will be those teams that have:

    • Determined critical hurdles to the commercialization of their floating platform technology.
    • Demonstrated they can make significant progress toward identifying and developing a supply chain within the US to produce the technology.
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Green Proving Ground

Green Proving Ground, in collaboration with DOE, has released a request for information (RFI) about technologies that will help achieve net-zero carbon buildings. This year’s RFI is focused on emerging technologies that:

  • Improve Operating Efficiency and Promote Healthy Workplaces
  • Enable Whole Building Electrification
  • Facilitate GHG and Carbon Reduction
  • Provide On-site Energy Generation and Storage Systems
  • Deliver Electric Fleet and Load Management Solutions

Technologies selected for participation in the GPG program will be piloted in one or more federal buildings for measurement and verification by third-party evaluators.

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REACH Energy Accelerator (2023 Cohort)

The Regional Energy Accelerator for Commercializing Hardtech (REACH) is now accepting applications from energy hardtech startups, entrepreneurs, university faculty, and founders to join the 2023 cohort! Application deadline is November 18th, 2022 and teams will be notified by December 16th.

The program provides hardtech-based consulting, prototyping, testing, technoeconomic analysis support, market research, and other business support services to startup companies located throughout mid-America / the Rocky Mountains Great Plains region. Accepted founders receive 12 months of support at NO cost!

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The Business Accelerator Fund (Michigan SBDC)

The Business Accelerator Fund (BAF) is available to participating business accelerators in Michigan’s statewide SmartZone network. These funds are used toward the delivery of specialized services that are not otherwise available from these business accelerators to assist advanced technology companies regardless of the company’s geography. A participating business accelerator will engage a third-party specialist to help advance the client’s path to commercialization, company success, and economic impact for the state of Michigan.

BAF requests are reviewed and awarded through a competitive process. A company may not receive more than $50,000 in BAF services, though most engagements are in the $7,000 to $15,000 range.

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Marine Energy Systems Innovation at Sea

This FOA focuses on innovation of wave energy converters (WECs) for nearshore environments across diverse coastal conditions through long duration at-sea testing and operations (i.e., two weeks to six months) and component/sub-system technology development and testing. It will additionally support commercialization opportunities for novel technologies and a feasibility assessment of an ocean current test facility off the coast of the United States.

WPTO encourages underserved communities and underrepresented groups to participate in this funding opportunity. Applicants are highly encouraged to include individuals from groups historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math on their project teams. Further, minority-serving institutions, minority business enterprises, minority-owned businesses, woman-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses, or entities located in an underserved community that meet the eligibility requirements described in the funding opportunity are encouraged to apply as the prime applicant or participate on an application as a proposed partner to the prime applicant.

WPTO estimates making up to 14 awards under the Marine Energy Systems Innovation at Sea funding opportunity, ranging between $300,000 and $2,125,000.

Note that a concept paper is due November 4, 2022.

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Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs)

DOE has defined a four-phase structure for the H2Hubs. Phase 1 will encompass initial planning and analysis activities to ensure that the overall H2Hub concept is technologically and financially viable, with input from relevant local stakeholders. Phase 2 will finalize engineering designs and business development, site access, labor agreements, permitting, offtake agreements, and community engagement activities necessary to begin installation, integration, and construction activities in Phase 3. Phase 4 will ramp-up the H2Hub to full operations including data collection to analyze the H2Hub’s operations, performance, and financial viability. This FOA will solicit plans for all four phases of proposed H2Hub activities; however, DOE will only initially authorize funding for Phase I. DOE’s review and evaluation of deliverables reflecting activities in each phase will inform Go/No-Go decisions that occur between or within Phases. For this initial FOA launch, DOE envisions selecting six (6) to ten (10) H2Hubs for a combined total of up to $6-7 billion in federal funding.

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Carbon Storage Validation and Testing

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (DE-FOA-0002711) will support the availability of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to reach climate goals by building upon these learnings to test, mature, and validate CCUS technologies at commercial-scale. One aspect is the need to improve practices regarding how to efficiently and cost-effectively characterize and permit commercial carbon storage project site(s) ensuring that secure geologic carbon storage is available in diverse regions and settings that will support longer term carbon management goals across the US.

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Carbon Capture Demonstration Projects Program

This Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will provide funding for up to twenty (20) Front End Engineering Design (FEED) studies for integrated Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), submission of permit applications, (i.e., underground injection control (UIC) Class VI permit to construct, if necessary) preparation of an Environment Information Volume and the initial Community Benefits Plan (CBP) work and analysis, which will address the first phase of an integrated CCS demonstration project.

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Heartland Climate Tech Partnership

The partnership helps to support and accelerate climate tech and clean energy hardware startups in the Greater Midwest. Partners support startups and small businesses via tailored accelerator programs, virtual and in-person events, sector-specific curriculum, mentorship, prototyping resources, and connections with industry.

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