Description
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Research, Development, and Demonstrations”. The Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) is a key component of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) portfolio. Fuel cells powered by hydrogen from renewable or low-carbon resources can lead to substantial energy savings and reductions in imported petroleum and carbon emissions. FCTO aims to provide clean, safe, secure, affordable, and reliable energy from diverse domestic resources, providing the benefits of increased energy security and reduced criteria pollutants and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. FCTO accomplishes its goals by adopting a technology-neutral approach toward research, development and demonstration (RD&D) to address both key technical challenges for fuel cells and hydrogen fuels (i.e. hydrogen production, delivery and storage) and other barriers such as hydrogen codes and standards. The central mission of FCTO is to enable the widespread commercialization of a portfolio of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies through applied RD&D, and diverse efforts to overcome institutional and market challenges. Fuel cells can address our critical energy challenges in all sectors: transportation, commercial, residential, and industrial. They can use diverse fuels, including biomass-based fuels, natural gas, and hydrogen produced from renewable resources. FCTO’s focus is primarily transportation and light-duty passenger vehicles utilizing hydrogen as an energy carrier. These areas will have the greatest impact in terms of GHG and petroleum reduction and they are aligned with the President’s goals and Climate Action Plan. However, FCTO also supports a range of other applications, including near-term markets such as distributed primary and backup power, lift trucks, and portable power; mid-term markets such as residential combined-heat-and-power (CHP) systems, and auxiliary power units; and longer-term markets such as fleet vehicles. This FOA will provide funding to meet FCTO’s goals for Hydrogen Production and Delivery, Hydrogen Storage, Fuel Cell Technologies, Technology Validation, Manufacturing, and Analysis Programs. More detailed descriptions of the FCTO Programs, including technical and cost targets, can be found in the Multi-Year Research, Development and Demonstration Plan (MYRD&D) at http://energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/downloads/fuel-cell-technologies-office-multi-year-research-development-and-22. It is anticipated that up to $35M in DOE funds will be awarded under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriations. This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions. EERE plans to issue the FOA on or about December 10, 2015 via the EERE Exchange website https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/. If Applicants wish to receive official notifications and information from EERE regarding this FOA, they should register in EERE Exchange. When the FOA is released, applications will be accepted only through EERE Exchange.