(CLOSED) DE-FOA-0001980: Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office Multi-Topic

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) supports federal investment in innovative, early-stage advanced manufacturing applied research and development (R&D) projects that focus on specific high-impact manufacturing technology, materials, and process challenges. The topics are aimed at foundational energy-related advanced manufacturing technologies that impact areas relevant to manufacturing processes (where energy costs are a determinant of competitive manufacturing) and broadly applicable platform technologies (the enabling base upon which other systems and applications can be developed). The competitively selected projects will focus on developing next-generation manufacturing material, information, and process technologies that improve energy efficiency in energy intensive and energy dependent processes.

With this FOA, the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) intends to fund high-impact, early to mid-stage research in the following topic areas:

Topic 1: Innovations for the Manufacture of Advanced Materials

The development and manufacture of new materials and devices with desirable properties can improve many energy and industrial applications, as well as downstream products. AMO activity in this area focuses on innovating and accelerating the development of specific, promising next generation materials and associated processes. These include materials with improved energy storage or conversion properties, and materials for use under harsh service conditions. Research to improve material processing represents a major opportunity space with wide-ranging energy efficiency and economic benefits.

• Subtopic 1.1: Accelerate the Manufacturing Process Design and Development Cycle for Advanced Energy Conversion and Storage Materials
• Subtopic 1.2: Innovative Manufacturing Processes for Battery Energy Storage
• Subtopic 1.3: Materials and Manufacturing Process Development of Nanocrystalline Metal Alloys
• Subtopic 1.4: Process-Informed Science, Design, and Engineering of Materials and Devices Operating in Harsh Service Conditions

Topic 2: Lower Thermal Budget (LTB) Processes for Industrial Efficiency & Productivity

Process heating operations supply thermal energy needed to transform materials into a wide variety of commodities and end-use consumer products. Approximately 7.5 quads of manufacturing energy use annually are related to process heating (70% of all process energy use), with approximately 36% of that energy lost as waste heat, accounting for over 2,500 trillion Btus annually. Advances in technologies currently used for process heating, as well as entirely new methods of processing materials to lower or obviate the thermal demand, can lower manufacturing energy and emissions and associated costs, and also enable the manufacture of improved materials, technologies, and products.

• Subtopic 2.1: Advances in Industrial and Process Drying
• Subtopic 2.2: Thermal Process Intensification

Topic 3: Connected, Flexible and Efficient Manufacturing Facilities and Energy Systems

The U.S. electric power system is the centerpiece of the nation’s energy economy. However, the design and operation of today’s grid is being challenged to meet the evolving security, cost, and environmental needs of a low-carbon, digital economy. A modernized electric power system will need to dynamically optimize distributed resources, rapidly detect and mitigate disturbances, and engage millions (if not billions) of intelligent devices. It must integrate diverse generation sources, demand response, and energy-efficiency resources, and enable consumers to manage their electricity use and participate in markets. Finally, it must provide strong protection against physical and cyber risks.

• Subtopic 3.1: Medium-Voltage Power Conditioning Systems to Enable Grid-Dispatchable and Resilient Manufacturing Facilities
• Subtopic 3.2: High Power to Heat Ratio, High Efficiency Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
• Subtopic 3.3: Verification and Validation of CHP and District Energy

Funding Levels:

The applicants’ technologies may be at different levels of maturity; proposed funding levels and project durations should be commensurate with the workscope necessary to advance the technology to the proposed readiness level. Awards will be made at one of two funding levels:

• Tier 1 - up to $500,000 for up to 2 years - concept definition and proof of concept projects are limited to Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 2 and TRL 3 activities.
• Tier 2 - up to $4,000,000 for up to 3 years (up to $12,000,000 for Subtopic 1.2 and up to $10,000,000 for Subtopic 2.2) – Tier 2 projects can include activities in Tier 1, but must also include scope to bring the technology to later stage TRLs.

Funding requests must be justified, and should be commensurate with the scope of the work being proposed. More detail about estimated funding levels can be found in Section II.A.i. of FOA.
Applications must clearly identify the starting and ending TRL for the project and justify the TRLs assigned. See Appendix E of FOA for EERE’s definitions of TRLs.
All work under EERE funding agreements must be performed in the United States. See Section IV.J.iii. and Appendix C of FOA.

Estimated Funding:

EERE expects to make a total of approximately $88,840,000 of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. EERE anticipates making up to 55 awards under his FOA. EERE may issue one, multiple, or no awards. Individual awards may be up to $500,000 for Tier 1 projects, and up to $4 million for Tier 2 projects, except for Tier 2 awards for Subtopic 1.2, which may be up to $12 million and Subtopic 2.2, which may be up to $10 million.

EERE may establish more than one budget period for each award and fund only the initial budget period(s). Funding for all budget periods, including the initial budget period, is not guaranteed.

Cost Sharing:

Regardless of entity type, the cost share must be at least 20% of the total allowable costs for research and development projects (i.e., the sum of the Government share, including FFRDC costs if applicable, and the recipient share of allowable costs equals the total allowable cost of the project) and must come from non-federal sources unless otherwise allowed by law. (See 2 CFR 200.306 and 2 CFR 910.130 in the FOA for the applicable cost sharing requirements.)

For more information, see the FOA.