The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) is issuing this $4.8 million funding opportunity announcement (FOA) “Water Power Innovation Network” to support business creation, entrepreneurship, and regional innovation for water power systems and solutions. WPTO enables research, development, and testing of emerging technologies to advance marine energy as well as next-generation hydropower and pumped storage systems for a flexible, reliable grid. Through this FOA, WPTO seeks to fund new and/or expanded incubator or accelerator programs that enable entrepreneurship and accelerate water power innovation, business creation, and growth in communities and regions throughout the United States. Through this FOA, new and/or expanded incubators and accelerators in water power will be able to collaborate with one another and build a stronger water power innovation network in support of accelerating water power technologies to market.

The RCP Program aims to advance and support reconnection of communities divided by transportation infrastructure – with a priority on helping disadvantaged communities improve access to daily needs (jobs, schools, healthcare, grocery stores, and recreation). Funds for the fiscal years (FY) 2024, 2025, and 2026 RCP grant program are to be awarded on a competitive basis to support planning and capital construction activities that aim to restore community connectivity through the removal, retrofit, mitigation or replacement of highways, roadways, or other infrastructure facilities that create barriers to mobility, access or economic development.

The NEWTON program will support the research and development of technologies that enable the transmutation of used nuclear fuel to reduce the impact of storage in permanent disposal facilities. This program seeks to fund the development of novel technologies that increase the overall performance of particle generation systems by reducing beam trip magnitude and duration. Additional technologies will maximize transmutation rates and streamline the removal of the transmuted material through the development of dedicated transmutation targets. Transmutation is a process in which an isotope is converted to another isotope or element through a nuclear reaction. It is one possible strategy for the transformation of nuclear-fission-derived isotopes that are problematic for long-term waste disposal. NEWTON seeks to enable the economic viability of transmutation at a scale that will significantly reduce the mass, volume, activity, and effective half-life of the existing stockpile of commercial used nuclear fuel to be disposed of in a geological repository.

The Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program (NSFLTP) of The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) (Pub. L. 114-94, section 1123), provides funding for the construction, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of nationally significant projects within, adjacent to, or accessing Federal and Tribal lands. This Program provides an opportunity to address significant challenges across the nation for transportation facilities that serve Federal and Tribal lands.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs (Office of Indian Energy) is seeking collaboration with up to four regional nonprofit intertribal organizations as a pilot program to coordinate, collaborate, and partner with the Office of Indian Energy. The purpose of this opportunity (or project) is to help federally recognized Tribes navigate and access DOE clean energy funding and technical assistance opportunities by amplifying DOE messaging and creating effective engagement opportunities for member Tribes. Funding will support communication, internal organizational capacity-building, and engagement activities, with the goal of building long-lasting effective working relationships with Tribal elected leaders and, key staff, and DOE.

Are you a community interested in demonstrating or deploying a long duration energy storage (LDES) technology? This voucher opportunity seeks to provide communities who wish to benefit from the decarbonization, resilience, affordability, and workforce benefits of energy storage and are interested in innovative, first-time long-duration energy storage (LDES) deployments. These communities will receive services such as siting/permitting support, storage project road mapping, regional modeling, energy use analysis, technical feasibility studies, technology solution decision-making, or community engagement. While there are no restrictions on eligible communities, supporting disadvantaged communities (DACs) is an important goal of this opportunity. Providers may include national labs, consulting firms, or nonprofits.

Vouchers will be distributed as in-kind support, meaning that ENERGYWERX will directly reimburse the voucher provider for the work they have completed on behalf of the voucher recipients. The value of each voucher will depend on the services defined in the Providers’ capability statements, with estimated values of support services per recipient ranging from $50k to $150k.

Are you a long duration energy storage (LDES) technology innovator? This voucher opportunity seeks to provide LDES technology companies, including developers, vendors and manufacturers, with services such as market assessment support, business plan formulation, technical modeling or analysis, testing, performance validation, and commercialization strategy support. This support will come from providers, such as national labs, consulting firms, non-profits, or technology testing centers, to advance non-hydrogen, electricity-in/electricity-out LDES technologies.

Vouchers will be distributed as in-kind support, meaning that ENERGYWERX will directly reimburse the voucher provider for the work they have completed on behalf of the voucher recipients. The value of each voucher will depend on the services defined in the Providers’ capability statements, with estimated values of support services per recipient ranging from $50k to $150k.

The Hydropower Testing Network (HyTN) program, pronounced “heighten“, aims to raise the technology readiness of hydropower innovations by connecting technology developers to testing facilities and implementing targeted testing activities that lead to the deployment of sustainable hydropower projects. The HyTN Voucher Opportunity (VO) seeks to provide U.S.-based hydropower technology developers the testing capabilities needed to increase the technical readiness and commercialization potential of innovative approaches to hydropower generation. The HyTN VO, developed in a partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), and ENERGYWERX, facilitates matchmaking between U.S.-based hydropower technology developers (voucher recipients) and test facilities (voucher providers) with relevant physical testing capabilities. Once matches are made, WPTO distributes funds to the test facilities to provide these testing capabilities to the voucher recipients for projects lasting up to one year. This solicitation is currently open to voucher providers.

The American-Made Upskill Prize for the Solar Manufacturing Workforce (Upskill Prize) is a $5 million prize designed to accelerate the expansion of the U.S. solar manufacturing workforce and equip workers with the skills necessary to revitalize the domestic solar manufacturing supply chain. This prize targets various facets of the U.S. solar photovoltaics (PV) module supply chain, addressing critical workforce needs.  Competing teams propose comprehensive workforce training plans that are composed of either (or both) new worker training or incumbent worker training.

Training programs funded by the Brownfields Job Training Grant provide program graduates with the opportunity to seek and obtain environmental jobs that contractors may otherwise fill from outside the affected community. EPA intends to use this grant opportunity to support the creation of good-paying jobs with the free and fair choice to join a union and the incorporation of strong labor standards and workforce programs. Brownfields Job Training Grants help residents take advantage of jobs across a spectrum of brownfield related activities, including the assessment, cleanup, remediation, and planning/site preparation for the revitalization of brownfields. This can involve the assessment and cleanup of solid and hazardous waste; chemical risk management; stormwater management relating to site cleanup; planning and site preparation for low impact development activities; planning and site preparation for green infrastructure installation and maintenance; and vulnerability assessment and contamination mitigation planning. Applicants will be evaluated on the extent to which they partner with and secure hiring commitments from local contractors and other stakeholders in communities where EPA-funded projects are located.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) reduces energy costs for low-income households by increasing the energy efficiency of their homes, while ensuring their health and safety. WAP provides core program funding to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Native American Tribes, and the five U.S. territories—American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands—through formula grants. Once DOE awards the grants, the states, tribes, and territories contract with roughly 700 local organizations nationwide that consists of community action agencies, other nonprofits, and local governments. Find your state’s WAP for more info.