On March 2, the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) announced DE-FOA-0000670, a $150 million funding opportunity open for new, innovative renewable and non-renewable electricity generation, energy efficiency and transportation technologies.
“To address the challenges imposed by the rapidly evolving global energy market, ARPA-E seeks to support transformational research in all areas of energy R&D, including resource identification, extraction, transportation and use, and energy generation, storage, transmission and use in both the transportation and stationary power sectors. Areas of research responsive to this FOA include (but are not limited to) electricity generation by both renewable and non-renewable means, electricity transmission, storage, and distribution; energy efficiency for buildings, manufacturing and commerce, and personal use; and all aspects of transportation, including the production and distribution of both renewable and non-renewable fuels, electrification, and energy efficiency in transportation.”
The OPEN FOA applies to eight categories of projects including: (1) renewable power (including wind, geothermal energy and solar); (2) bioenergy (including biomass and biofuel); (3) transportation (including alternative energy, fuel cells, advanced vehicle designs); (4) conventional generation; (5) grid (including transmission, distribution and reliability); (6) building efficiency; (7) other (including water production/reuse, behavior/education and consumer electronics); and (8) none of the above (other technologies that do not fit in the other seven categories).
ARPA-E anticipates making approximately 60-80 awards under this OPEN FOA, varying between $250,000 and $10 million. The period of performance for funding agreements may not exceed 36 months. ARPA-E expects the start date for funding agreements to be January 1, 2013, or as negotiated.
The deadline for a submission of a project’s Letter of Intent Submission Deadline is 3/30/2012; the Concept Paper Submission Deadline is 4/12/2012.