The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity launched the $1.1-million Digitizing Utilities Prize to connect utilities with interdisciplinary teams of software developers and data experts to transform digital systems in the energy sector through data analytics, processing, quality assurance, storage, and deletion. The prize supports competitors as they work directly with utility partners to develop software solutions to improve how the energy industry manages, stores, and processes these large data sets.

The funding will advance the priorities of DOE’s Office of Science and its major programs, including Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Isotope R&D and Production, and Accelerator R&D and Production. It provides a vehicle for the Office of Science to solicit applications for research support in areas not covered by more specific, topical FOAs that are issued by the office in FY 2023.

Projects funded under the COOLERCHIPS program 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. The COOLERCHIPS program will support the leveraging of recent nascent advances in thermal management, coolant flow technology, materials, manufacturing, design, controls, and reliability engineering. Illustrative example areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• New materials, surface treatments, thermal interface solutions, manufacturing methods and conduction methods for improving heat transfer from chipsets;
• Advances in heat transfer to create and control 3D fluid structures with minimal thermal boundary layers;
• Innovations in cooling system engineering for reliability that address severity, occurrence and detectability of potential component failures and novel ideas that include system level risk mitigation, health monitoring and controls; and
• Novel modular data center or EDGE compute system designs that can operate high density compute systems at any time in any US location with highly efficient cooling systems.

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.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will fund Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) studies that support and accelerate the planning for CO2 transport by a variety of modes. Due to the immediate need for CO2 transport servicing multiple points of capture and one or more points of storage, the first round of solicited applications will prioritize CO2 pipeline projects with two or more carbon capture sources connected to one or more secure geologic storage locations and/or to one or more CO2 conversion locations. The CO2 must be derived only from anthropogenic sources which could include CO2 derived by direct capture from ambient air and must be delivered to CO2 conversion sites or secure geologic storage facilities.

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.

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.

Activate empowers scientists to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market. The two-year Activate Fellowship is the most immersive, supportive, and comprehensive program for early-stage hard-tech science entrepreneurs to access the funding, technical support, networking, community, and time they need at the outset of their entrepreneurial journeys. Activate does not charge any fees or equity to participate.

The Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration funding opportunity will award $26 million in funding for projects that demonstrate the reliable operation of a power system that has up to 100% of its power contribution coming from solar, wind, and battery storage resources.

• Topic 1: Wind and Solar Grid Services Design, Implementation, and Demonstration (3-5 projects, $3-6 million each)
• Topic 2: Protection of Bulk Power Systems with High Contribution from Inverter-Based Resources (3-4 projects, $2-3 million each)

The Frontline Resource Institute is releasing two grant opportunities through the Collective Action Fund at the Tides Foundation. Intended for environmental and climate justice organizations serving frontline communities, both opportunities will assist in building organizational capacity and promoting shared learning and peer exchange among grant recipients. Recognizing that organizations have different needs depending on their longevity, financial capacity, and development journeys, FRI plans to disburse funds via two tracks: (1) Organizational Strategy Development and (2) Organizational Capacity Building and Organizational Durability.

This FOA will fund innovative solar photovoltaics (PV) R&D that reduces the cost of PV modules, reduces carbon and energy intensity of PV manufacturing processes, and optimizes PV technology for new, specialized markets.

This FOA will fund R&D on innovative cell- and minimodule-level technologies focused on three major goals:

•Enable cost reduction on an LCOE basis through development of durable, high-efficiency cell and module PV technology

•Identify pathways to reduce the carbon intensity and energy intensity of industrial processes required to fabricate PV cells and modules

•Increase technical viability of PV cells and modules tailored for emerging integrated PV sectors, such as building-integrated PV (BIPV) and vehicle-integrated PV.

The California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), in partnership with the University of California Office of the President (UCOP), Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL), Momentum, and Los Angeles Cleantech Institute (LACI), proposes to develop, implement and administer the California Test Bed Initiative (CalTestBed). This $11M program will provide vouchers of between $10,000 and $300,000 to 60 of California’s clean energy entrepreneurs—for redemption at any of nearly 30 initial DER testing and verification facilities currently operating within the University of California system, representing the unprecedented commitment of 9 University of California campuses and LBNL. By streamlining access to these facilities, CalTestBed will assist entrepreneurs in refining their technology prototypes to better meet customer specifications while accelerating some of California’s most promising clean energy technologies on the pathway to successful commercialization.