Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity: Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs – Recurring Program

Office: Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations
FOA number: DE-FOA-0003429
Download the full notice of intent: OCED eXCHANGE 
Anticipated Funding Amount: up to $1,800,000,000

Background Information

On September 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) issued a notice of intent to fund up to $1.8 billion for the design, construction, and operation of mid- and large-scale commercial direct air capture facilities and infrastructure scaling platforms. This funding—made possible by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—supports a broad range of promising DAC technologies on their path to commercialization and deployment that can spur the growth of additional DAC Hubs. As part of the Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs program, this funding will help support an ecosystem of projects that aim to remove harmful legacy carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere and meet President Biden and Vice President Harris’ ambitious clean energy and climate goals.  

Direct air capture is a process that separates CO₂ from the air, helping to reduce legacy CO₂ in the atmosphere. The separated CO₂ can then be safely and permanently stored deep underground or converted into useful carbon-containing products like concrete that prevent its release back into the atmosphere. Widespread deployment of direct air capture and other innovative technologies that capture emissions are key to combatting the climate crisis and reinforcing America’s global competitiveness in the zero-carbon economy of the future. DOE estimates that reaching the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious plan for a net-zero carbon emissions economy will require that between 400 million and 1.8 billion metric tons of CO₂ be removed from the atmosphere and captured from emissions sources annually by 2050.  

The anticipated funding announced today aims to provide potential applicants with flexible and comprehensive pathways to spur the development of commercial direct air capture facilities, including direct air capture facilities at mid- to large-scale along with supporting infrastructure, and expand to Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs. OCED, in collaboration with the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, intends to offer funding in recurring openings across multiple years due to the rapidly advancing direct air capture field. This intentional flexibility in funding provides more opportunities to benefit from the latest generations of direct air capture technology and ensure the funding supports the highest-impact projects. 

This funding is provided from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Section 40308.

The “Notice of Intent to Issue” is for informational purposes only. DOE is not seeking comments on the information in this notice. Applications are not being accepted at this time. Any information contained in this notice is subject to change.

Expected Topic Areas 

If released, this funding opportunity announcement is anticipated to have three topic areas:

Topic Area 1: Infrastructure scaling platforms, or host sites, to provide direct air capture developers with a place to build and operate facilities with access to clean energy and shared CO₂ post-capture processing. 

Topic Area 2: Mid-scale commercial direct air capture facilities with a capture capacity between 2,000 and 25,000 tons of CO₂per year. 

Topic Area 3: Large-scale commercial direct air capture facilities with a minimum capture capacity of 25,000 tons of CO₂per year. 

Expected Funding 

DOE expects to award up to $1.8 billion in awards across all topic areas with a minimum of a 50% cost-sharing from the awardees.

Webinar 

An informational webinar will be hosted on October 10, 2024 at 11:30 AM ET to provide additional information about the three topic areas, outcomes from prior Requests for Information, next steps, and further engagement opportunities and resources.

Register here

Attending the informational webinar is not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any applicant submissions. 

Key Dates

Additional Information

• There are several registration requirements that must be completed in order to submit an application, which can take a minimum of 44 days to complete. Failure to complete these requirements could interfere with an applicant's ability to apply. Download the full notice of intent on OCED eXCHANGE for detailed submission and registration requirements.

Last Updated: September 23, 2024