Energy

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces a notice of funding opportunity, subject to appropriation, of up to $10 million in competitive grants to assist communities with extremely high energy costs. The grant funds may be used to acquire, construct, or improve energy generation, transmission, or distribution facilities serving communities where the average annual residential expenditure for home energy exceeds 275% of the national average. Eligible projects also include on-grid and off-grid renewable energy projects and the implementation of energy efficiency and energy conservation projects for eligible communities. Projects cannot be for the primary benefit of a single household or business. Grant funds may not be used for the preparation of the grant application, operating costs, or for the purchase of any equipment, structures, or real estate not directly associated with the provision of community energy services.

The goal of this funding opportunity is to improve the outcomes of large-scale solar (LSS) development for ecosystems, wildlife, and communities by soliciting projects that will a) test strategies that mitigate adverse impacts and/or maximize benefits to wildlife and ecosystems, b) provide technical assistance and stakeholder engagement opportunities to facilitate strategies that improve the compatibility of LSS facilities with wildlife, or c) provide technical assistance and conduct outreach to facilitate the adoption of agrivoltaics.

The Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs Recurring Program (“the Program”)(comprising this initial Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and any subsequent re-openings and related solicitations) is designed to provide direct air capture (DAC) technology and project developers with support at various stages on their commercialization path towards the realization of four regional DAC hubs, building on the momentum and potential of projects selected under the first Funding Opportunity Announcement (“FOA-1”) (DE-FOA0002735), other DOE-supported initiatives, and privately funded activities.

The Program seeks to realize the potential of the diverse DAC technologies that have achieved or are approaching commercial readiness at or above Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 (as defined by DOE G 413.3-4A Technology Readiness Assessment Guide, 2011), while addressing the most critical Commercial Adoption Readiness Level (ARL) obstacles to their adoption and scaling.

The Program will support the DAC industry to achieve the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) goals of four regional 1,000,000 tonns per annum (TPA) hubs by funding three complementary project types: large-scale commercial DAC facilities (“LSCs,” Topic Area 3), mid-scale commercial DAC facilities (“MSCs,” Topic Area 2), and infrastructure access platforms for commercializing new DAC technologies (“IAPs,” Topic Area 1).

The objectives of the Program are to:
• Encourage the development and expansion of four regional DAC hubs by funding the large-scale demonstration facilities that will comprise those hubs
• Provide complementary support for DAC developers’ first commercial demonstration facilities as they advance to large scale, including facilitating access to reliable low carbon energy sources and CO2 storage or utilization

The Program is authorized under the Regional Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hubs Program (“Regional DAC Hubs”) (42 U.S.C. § 16298d(j)) established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The following entities are eligible to apply as recipients: (1) institutions of higher education; (2) for-profit organizations; (3) nonprofit organizations; (4) state and local governments; (5) and Indian Tribes. See the Applicant Eligibility Guidance on the Apply for Funding Opportunities page for details.

The BLM Headquarters Wildlife Program advances the Department of the Interior's priorities to address the climate crisis, restore balance on public lands and waters, advance environmental justice, and invest in a clean energy future. Specific BLM Headquarters Wildlife Program priorities include:protect wildlife habitat, migration, habitat connectivity that supports biodiversity;increase resilience to climate change and help leverage natural climate solutions;contribute to conserving at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by the year 2030;support State agencies to meet State wildlife population objectives;engage communities of color, low-income families, and rural and indigenous communities to enhance economic opportunities related to wildlife; anduse the best science and data available to make decisions. The BLM Headquarters Wildlife Program works with partner organizations to meet the goals above on national or regional scale through: Activities that maintain or restore habitats for upland game, waterfowl, big game, pollinators, sensitives species, and watchable wildlife species. Conserving priority wildlife habitat (vegetation communities, water resources, or connectivity) or reducing threats to habitat or species.Monitoring and inventorying wildlife populations and habitats to provide complete, current, and accurate information on the distribution, abundance, and habitat of wildlife that depend on BLM managed public lands.Assessing wildlife habitat and measuring related resource management goals and objectives.Enhancing the understanding of opportunities to conserve wildlife populations that depend on BLM managed lands.Improving how BLM uses and integrates coordinated wildlife monitoring data such as Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) and North American Bat Monitoring Program (NaBat). Doing new research on success in meeting the objectives of wildlife habitat and land use plans at the ecosystem and watershed level.Performing education projects (including citizen science and student-based science) to facilitate wildlife stewardship and conservation for species that depend on BLM managed lands.Increasing public awareness of wildlife resources, conservation challenges and successes on BLM managed lands, including with a targeted focus on communities of color, low-income families, and rural and indigenous communities.

The Secretary of the Interior (“Secretary”), through the Division of Energy and Mineral Development (DEMD), Office of Trust Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), is soliciting grant proposals from Federally recognized tribal entities to build Tribal capacity for energy resource regulation and management.The Tribal Energy Development Capacity (TEDC) grant program seeks to develop the Tribal management, organizational and technical capacity needed to maximize the economic impact of energy resource development on Federally recognized tribal land. TEDC grants equip Federally recognized tribal entities to regulate and manage their energy resources through development of organizational and business structures and legal and regulatory infrastructure.Examples of projects TEDC grants may fund include establishment of Tribal business charters under Federal, state, or Tribal law with a focus on energy resource development; adoption and/or implementation of a secured transactions code; feasibility studies on forming a Tribal utility authority; and development of Tribal energy regulations.

NOFO: DE-FOA-0003373, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Provision 41007 (b)(2), Wind Turbine Technology Recycling The activities to be funded under this NOFO support BIL sections 41007(b)(2) and the broader government-wide approach to strengthen critical domestic manufacturing and supply chains and to maximize the benefits of the clean energy transition as the nation works to curb the climate crisis, empower workers, and advance environmental justice. This BIL section, through reference to section 3003(b)(4) of the Energy Act of 2020, addresses: • Research and development projects to create innovative and practical approaches to increase the reuse and recycling of wind energy technologies, including— • by increasing the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the recovery of raw materials from wind energy technology components and systems • by minimizing potential environmental impacts from the recovery and disposal processes; • by advancing technologies and processes for the disassembly and recycling of wind energy devices; • by developing alternative materials, designs, manufacturing processes, and other aspects of wind energy technologies and the disassembly and resource recovery process that enable efficient, cost effective, and environmentally responsible disassembly of, and resource recovery from, wind energy technologies; and • strategies to increase consumer acceptance of, and participation in, the recycling of wind energy technologies

To view the NOFO, visit EERE Exchange at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov

Blue-Sky Training Program for Grid Scale Energy Storage Systems aims to enhance community safety for utilities with Energy Storage Systems. As storage technologies continue to be deployed, it is critical that communities are storage ready and that necessary stakeholders are brought to the table to ensure a new or existing Energy Storage Systems will operate safely and reliably. In localities across the country, uncertainty over proper response procedures to security threats and unanticipated failures of Energy Storage Systems can delay or even prevent deployment.

Renewable Integration Management with Innovative High Voltage Direct Current Power Circuit Breakers (REIMAGINE BREAKERS). Developing standards for High Voltage Direct Current Circuit Breakers (HV DCCB) will support the protection and interoperability of hardware within Multi-Terminal HVDC (MTDC) transmission systems and allow for seamless interconnection and coordination of HV DCCBs into existing high voltage AC & DC transmission systems. Standardization will provide key stakeholders with guidance to ensure all HV DCCBs developed are compatible with existing and future transmission networks. Additionally, the advancement of HV DCCB designs will aid in the development of novel ideas to reduce overall cost and footprint of the technology.

HARMONY: Human-Centric Analytics for Resilient & Modernized Power sYstems This NOFO aims to enhance grid reliability and resilience in the face of growing uncertainties and in the age of big data to accelerate pathways towards DOE grid modernization goals. Successful implementation of projects will enable rigorous quantification of risks and uncertainties and their communication to decision-makers and human operators for enhanced grid visibility and resilience.

Challenge Overview
The Good Jobs in Clean Energy Prize is designed to encourage coalition-building in communities across the country that focus on creating quality jobs and fostering an equitable and inclusive workforce in clean energy sectors.

A Coalition Competition Structured for Success
The Good Jobs in Clean Energy Prize encourages building new and newly focused placed-based coalitions to create quality, accessible jobs and training partnerships in their community. Each coalition is required to include, at a minimum, one coalition representative from each of the five key stakeholder groups below:

Labor organizations
Clean energy employers
Community-based organizations
Public agencies
Education and workforce providers
These competing coalitions will develop and implement Coalition Action Plans that improve the quality of and expand access to good jobs in clean energy.

Competitors participate in three prize phases designed to increase the long-term engagement of place-based coalitions to ensure that the clean energy jobs created nationwide are high quality and accessible to target populations. Coalitions must compete and win in Phase One of the prize to qualify to compete in Phase Two and Phase Three of the prize. Qualified coalitions will have the chance to win part of $3,375,000 prize pool to help them develop plans and accelerate the implementation of their solutions.

More than $3 Million in Prizes
The three-phase competition catalyzes coalition building to understand, plan, and improve job quality and job access within the clean energy economy for target populations.

The Three Phases

Phase One: Coalition Formation

Up to 15 winning coalitions / $50,000 cash prize each

Winning coalitions are selected for:

Identifying a clean energy employment opportunity and workforce challenge in a specific sector and target community, and
Displaying robust partnerships that include at least one organization from each of the five stakeholder types: labor organization, clean energy employer, community-based organization, public agency, and education and workforce provider.
Phase Two: Coalition Action Plan

Up to 10 winning coalitions / $100,000 each

Competing coalitions participate in a virtual U.S. Department of Energy-led training on High Road economic and workforce development strategies for clean energy and develop a robust Coalition Action Plan to create quality, accessible jobs, and training partnerships.

Phase Three: Implementation and Impact

Up to 10 winning coalitions. First place: $300,000 / Second place: $250,000 / Third place: $200,000 / Seven runner-up coalitions: $125,000

Competing coalitions implement their Phase Two Coalition Action Plans and participate in community-of-practice activities and quarterly check-ins with prize administrators.