Recapping various energy-related federal funding opportunities (open or soon-expected)





energy specific funding opportunties




Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and other federal funding announcements





The *Minnesota Department of Commerce* is seeking to work with and facilitate connections with local and Tribal governments, utilities, businesses, communities and other entities interested in energy-related partnerships. Funding opportunities outlined below are offered through the federal funding opportunities, including those funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).?






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Of Special Note:

Stakeholders with interest in the planned IIJA *40103c* Funding Opportunity *"Energy Improvement in Rural and Remote Areas"* are being invited by the DOE to participate in workshops to gather information on challenges and priorities, as well as input and suggestions re the structure of 40103c. S*ee the item below under RESOURCES.*?

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Informational webinars on grant basics for potential Grid Resilience applicants

Commerce will host two informational seminars for entities thinking of applying to one or more of the IIJA Grid Resilience funding opportunities and who want to better understand the processes involved.? Interested parties can choose to attend a session on one of two dates. Each session will explain the process differences in applying to the State Energy Office for a share of grant funds that will be allocated to the State versus applying directly to a federal agency as part of a competitive grant funding opportunity. The session will cover "How to read a FOA", and, for those potentially applying directly to the federal government, the discussion will cover things applicants can be doing now to prepare for the opening of the funding opportunities. Time will be reserved for audience questions and discussion.?

Interested parties can choose to attend one of the two times below.? Registration links to receive meeting invites are linked below.? ? ?


* Friday, September 30th, 10:00 -11:30 am [ [link removed] ]
* Tuesday, October 4th, 1:30-3:00 pm [ [link removed] ]

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Recent and expected federal funding activity

The federal government issues a variety of announcements related to federal funding opportunities:? Requests for Information (RFI); Notices of Intent (NOI); and Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA). More information can be found on the Commerce IIJA web page [ [link removed] ] or by clicking the links below.

*--Open IIJA Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA):*

* *40314?Additional Clean Hydrogen Programs:?Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs *
* *Concept Paper Due Date: *November 7, 2022, 4:00 pm CST.
* *Full Application?Due Date: *April 7, 2023, 4:00 pm CST.
* *DE-FOA-0002779 [ [link removed] ];?*CFDA Number: 81.255

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is issuing this FOA in collaboration with DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Office (HFTO) and the DOE's Hydrogen Program. The FOA has been issued to support the development of at least?four regional clean hydrogen hubs, defined as? ?a network of clean hydrogen producers, potential clean hydrogen consumers, and?connective infrastructure located in close proximity? that:
? Demonstrably aid the achievement of the clean hydrogen production standard?developed under section 822(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), as?amended by Section 40315 of BIL;
? Demonstrate the production, processing, delivery, storage, and end-use of clean
hydrogen; and
? Can be developed into a national clean hydrogen network to facilitate a clean
hydrogen economy.

This FOA seeks applications for the planning, construction, and operation of commercial-scale
H2Hubs, with an intent to fund proposals offering diversity in feedstocks, end-uses, and geography.

DOE launched H2 Matchmaker [ [link removed] ] a?voluntary online tool created to aid in fostering partnerships among key stakeholders by?allowing potential partners to identify each other. The tool is intended to help foster partnerships by increasing awareness and aligning potential needs in specific regions of the U.S.?Any organization that would like to be included in H2 Matchmaker
is encouraged to fill out the H2 Matchmaker Self-Identification form [ [link removed] ].

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* *40305 Storage Validation and Testing: Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE): {Phases III, III.5, IV)?*
* *Full Application?Due Date: *November 28, 2022, 4:00 pm CST.
* *DE-FOA-0002711 [ [link removed] ];?*CFDA Number: 81.089

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has issued a FOA to support the?development of new or expanded commercial large-scale carbon storage projects and?associated carbon dioxide transport infrastructure projects.?The CarbonSAFE Initiative [ [link removed] ] began in 2016 and?includes four phases that begin with pre-feasibility projects all the way through to permitting?and construction of the secure geologic storage complex. This FOA will focus funding on the last two phases: site?characterization & permitting and construction of the storage complex.

Work performed under this FOA may also be supportive of activities under other sections
of the BIL:

? Section 41004a - $937 million for large-scale CCUS pilots
? Section 41004b - $2.5 billion for demonstration scale carbon capture projects
? Section 40308 - $3.5 billion for regional DAC (Direct Air Capture) hubs
? Section 40303 - $100 million for FEED (Front-End Engineering Design) studies?for CO2 transport systems
? Section 40304 - $2.1 billion available in loan guarantees for CO2 transport?infrastructure
? Section 40314 - $8 billion dollars for hydrogen hubs including fossil-based H2?with carbon management

The DOE has created an online?information resource to connect users across the carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) supply chains. ?CO2 Matchmaker [ [link removed] ] is a?voluntary online self-identification tool with an online map showing existing and planned?carbon capture, utilization, removal, transport, and storage infrastructure.? To self-identify in the Carbon Matchmaker tool, please fill out this form [ [link removed] ].


* *40303 Carbon Capture Technology Program, Front-end Engineering and Design for Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Transport*
* *Full Application?Due Date: *November 28, 2022, 4:00 pm CST.
* *DE-FOA-0002730 [ [link removed] ];?*CFDA Number: 81.089
* *NOI* published in July 2022: *DE-FOA-0002780 [ [link removed] ]*

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has issued a FOA to fund Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) studies that support?and accelerate the planning for CO2 transport by a variety of modes, such as through?rail, trucks, ships, and pipelines..?

The objective?of this FOA is to support completion of FEED studies for regional-scale? anthropogenic CO2 transport projects that can contribute to economies of scale;?transport volume growth; support system efficiency of energy use and economics;?and maximize optionality and connectivity of disparate CO2 source, conversion,?and storage locations. Applications are being sought for commercial-scale CO2?pipeline projects, in particular open access or common carrier pipeline projects?that connect multiple potential regional CO2 hubs for source and storage options?(e.g., Midcontinent to Gulf Coast, Midwest to Rockies, etc.), or pipeline projects?that connect local CO2 sources with storage and conversion options, to form an?integrated regional CO2 storage hub. Other modes of CO2 transport, including?barge, rail, ship, and truck transport, will be considered in future funding years?under the same FOA.

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*--Non-IIJA Funding Opportunity Announcements*

* *Cooling Operations Optimized for Leaps in Energy, Reliability, and Carbon HyperEfficiency for Information Processing Systems?SBIR STTR (COOLERCHIPS SBIR STTR) SBIR - STTR?*?
* *Concept Papers Due: *October 26, 2022 8:30 am CDT
* *Full Application?Due Date: *TBD.
* *DE-FOA-0002851 [ [link removed] ];* CFDA Number 81.135.? (Concept Paper FOA - All Categories)
* *DE-FOA-0002852 [ [link removed] ];?*CFDA Number: 81.135 ( Concept Paper FOA - categories A & B)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) has opened a Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer [ [link removed] ] funding opportunity.? Projects funded will develop novel high performance, high reliability cooling systems for compute electronics. These cooling systems will enable a new class of power-dense computational systems, data centers, and modular EDGE systems that will be cooled using 5% or less of the IT load at any location in the United States at any time of the year. This opportunity seeks to seeks to encourage the formation of multi-disciplinary teams to?overcome the technology barriers for the development of high-performance cooling solutions?that can simultaneously achieve the required system reliability and cost viability. Proposing?teams should incorporate expertise in relevant compute servers, heat transfer, reliability,?modeling, data center techno-economics, data center operation, and commercialization"*.?*"

Category A: innovations for heat removal from server chipsets to facility?cooling systems.

Category B: innovations in modular data center systems where?individual stand-alone module/pods are envisioned with high performance computing systems?that can operate in any outside ambient environment.

Category C:?supporting software tools that can be used to predict energy usage, carbon footprint, reliability,?and cost of the technologies developed in Technical Category A and Technical Category B.

Category D:?developing and standardizing protocols, best practices,
interfaces, and operating facilities for testing the technologies produced by the Technical
Category A and Technical Category B teams.







* *Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program?*?
* *Required Pre-Applications Due: *October 20, 2022 4:00 pm CDT
* *Full Application?Due Date: *December 15th, 10:59 pm CST
* *DE-FOA-0002809 [ [link removed] ];* CFDA Number 81.049.??

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) has opened? this FOA to?invite applications for a new milestone-based fusion development program, a key component of the bold decadal vision to?accelerate fusion energy RD&D in partnership with the private sector. Applications may be?submitted for applied R&D to resolve scientific and technological issues toward the successful?design of a fusion pilot plant (FPP).?It is expected that all applications will be led by the private sector with key partners that could
include DOE national laboratories, academic institutions, non-profits, and other
organizations/entities.

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*Resources*

Information gathering workshops: 40103c Energy Improvements in Rural and Remote Areas

* *DOE Virtual workshop to gather information and structure funding opportunity*
*

Stakeholders are invited to participate in an *Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) *workshop. The U.S. Department of Energy?s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) has planned three workshops to inform the ERA program in preparation for a future funding opportunity announcement.


*

November 1-2, 2022 [ [link removed] ]. Virtual workshop


*

October 12-13 [ [link removed] ]?Golden CO (in-person)


*

October 26-27 [ [link removed] ] LIttle Rock, AR. (in-person)


*

The 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $1 billion to improve energy systems in rural or remote areas of the country with fewer than 10,000 people.

DOE is interested in hearing from you about how demonstration projects will improve the resilience, safety, reliability, availability, and environmental performance of rural and remote energy systems throughout the country.

As part of the development of the ERA program, this workshop is an opportunity for local governments, utilities, private sector project developers, and others in rural and remote communities to share more about their energy challenges and the types of projects that can improve their energy systems.

These workshops will:


* Provide a detailed overview of the ERA program to interested stakeholders
* Collect feedback from stakeholders on drivers, challenges, and potential impacts of demonstrations
* Offer a forum for stakeholder networking in preparation for the funding opportunity announcement

* The subsequent NOI for 40103c is expected to follow in 1Q23, with the FOA released in 3Q23.

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*Other Resources*

* *Central web-page for State Agency IIJA updates*

Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) has launched a central IIJA web-page [ [link removed] ]to help Minnesotans stay up to date with IIJA funding information.? The page offers information on the IIJA impacts to Minnesota overall, links to various state agencies' IIJA-focused web-pages, and technical assistance and information resources. Currently, the web-page provides a central location to go to for links to the IIJA web-pages of the Department of Commerce, the Office of Broadband Development (DEED), Mn Department of Transportation, the Public Facilities Authority, and the Metropolitan Council.? Links to additional agencies' IIJA web-pages will be added as those pages are finalized.? Additionally, to support partnership development, a "self-report" tracking function has been added to allow entities interested or applying for certain grants to update the State on their interest and endeavors.?


* *Get ready to apply to federal funding opportunities*

?As of April 4th, 2022, entities doing business with the federal government (including grant applicants responding to a federal funding opportunities) are required to be registered in the System for Award Management found at SAM.gov [ [link removed] ], and to have a Unique Entity Identification, or UEI.? UEI's are created by registering in SAM.gov. Registration in SAM.gov is free.

Follow this?guidance [ [link removed] ]?if you don't know if your entity is registered in SAM.gov.?Entities that were registered in SAM.gov, with either active or in-active registrations, prior to April 4th, 2022, have had a UEI assigned to their file [ [link removed] ]. This transition to using a UEI rather than a DUNS number allows the federal government to streamline the entity identification and validation process, making it easier and less burdensome for entities to do business with the federal government.

For additional information, read the?Quick Start Guide [ [link removed] ] for registering an entity in SAM.gov. (Note: Display issues have been noted when trying to access the guidance documents linked above via the Chrome browser. If the guidance articles do not show once linked to the page, copy the link address and paste it into a different browser such as Firefox.)

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Ask us! The MN Commerce Department is your partner for IIJA? energy-specific funding opportunities

Interested in partnering with the Department of Commerce around funding opportunities? Have questions? Send an email, detailing the program, your organization and contact information to IIJA Initiatives Project Manager, Kellye Rose:[email protected].

Sign up for future email updates from the Department of Commerce.?

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*Minnesota Department of Commerce | Energy Division
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*Email: [email protected]
Local: 651-539-1886 |?Greater MN: 1-800-657-3710

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