In June 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) responded to Concept Papers submitted for the Industrial Demonstrations Program. Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, the Industrial Demonstrations Program will be a central driver in accelerating industry towards deep decarbonization, enabling new markets for cleaner products, and benefiting local manufacturing communities.
In March 2023, DOE announced roughly $6 billion to accelerate decarbonization projects in energy-intensive industries and provide American manufacturers a competitive advantage in the emerging global clean energy economy. For the first stage of this process, OCED required Concept Paper submittals and reviewed 411 submissions, of which 130 were encouraged to submit a Full Application. In these Concept Papers, applicants requested more than $60 billion in federal funding—roughly 10 times the size of DOE’s $6 billion solicitation. Concept Papers included, in aggregate, nearly $100 billion of private capital alongside DOE’s federal investment. Applicants proposed projects in all 50 states and Puerto Rico and indicated interest in pursuing a diverse range of transformative technological solutions.
OCED issued notifications encouraging or discouraging applicants from submitting Full Applications. Notifications followed an assessment of each Concept Paper based on evaluation criteria that included decarbonization potential, timeliness, market viability, replicability, community benefits, and overall project strength. The Concept Paper process allows OCED to provide feedback to potential applicants to ensure they are producing the best applications possible and to better understand the types of final applications the Department will receive.
While OCED provided written Concept Paper feedback, OCED held a webinar on June 7, 2023, for participants to hear directly from the office. DOE takes seriously the confidentiality of all applicants and will treat applications and related information as confidential to the fullest extent possible, provided that applicants have not opted to publicly release the information. However, applicants who submitted Concept Papers were free to publicize their Concept Papers and/or DOE’s response. These encourage/discourage notifications did not preclude any entity that submitted an eligible Concept Paper from submitting a Full Application. The final application deadline was August 11, 2023 at 5 p.m., ET. DOE expects to select projects for award negotiations in early CY 2024.
For more information regarding the Industrial Demonstrations Program, please visit OCED’s Industrial Demonstrations Program webpage. Responses to frequently asked questions about the encourage/discourage notifications are below.
A. The Department of Energy (DOE) reviewed 411 Concept Papers for the Industrial Decarbonization and Emissions Reduction Demonstration-To-Deployment Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), number DE-FOA-0002936.
A. DOE reviewed proposals from a broad range of industrial sectors. Some Concept Papers covered multiple sectors.
- Chemicals and Refining
153 Concept Papers requesting $25.1 billion in federal funds and proposing $46.9 billion in non-federal cost share - Iron, Steel, and Steel Mill Products
40 Concept Papers requesting $11 billion in federal funds and proposing $22.7 billion in non-federal cost share - Cement and Concrete
53 Concept Papers requesting $5.8 billion in federal funds and proposing $8.3 billion in non-federal cost share - Pulp and Paper
26 Concept Papers requesting $3.4 billion in federal funds and proposing $3.8 billion in non-federal cost share - Aluminum
17 Concept Papers requesting $2.6 billion in federal funds and proposing $2.8 billion in non-federal cost share - Glass
17 Concept Papers requesting $2.3 billion in federal funds and proposing $2.4 billion in non-federal cost share - Cross-cutting
26 Concept Papers requesting $3.5 billion in federal funds and proposing $3.7 billion in non-federal cost share - Other Energy-Intensive Industrial Processes
79 Concept Papers requesting $8.1 billion in federal funds and proposing $9.1 billion in non-federal cost share
- Topic Area 1, Near-Net-Zero Facility Build Projects: 99 Concept Papers requesting more than $15 billion in federal funds
- Topic Area 2, Facility-Level Large Installations and Overhaul Retrofit Demonstrations: 187 Concept Papers requesting more than $40 billion in federal funds
- Topic Area 3, System Upgrades and Retrofits for Critical Unit Operations or Single Process Lines: 125 Concept Papers requesting more than $5 billion in federal funds
A. Yes, applicants are free to submit their Full Applications to a different Topic Area than what was identified in the Concept Paper, provided that the Topic Area is clearly identified in the Full Application.
Applicants are encouraged to consider which Topic Area would be most advantageous for their proposal, and that their proposal is appropriate for the timeline, funding, eligible entities, and carbon intensity reduction requirements of that Topic Area.
A. Concept Papers allow DOE to provide feedback to potential applicants to facilitate the strongest Full Applications and to better understand and prepare for the types of Full Applications DOE might receive. The encourage or discourage notifications also serve to caution discouraged applicants from expending considerable resources to develop a Full Application on a concept that is unlikely to meet the requirements and goals of the Funding Opportunity Announcement.
A. Each Full Application must describe a unique, scientifically distinct project. If an applicant plans to propose substantially similar retrofits at multiple facilities and locations, those retrofits should be proposed as a single, cross-cutting project in one Full Application. See Funding Opportunity Announcement Section 3.4.
A. Multiple reviewers independently scored Concept Papers based on evaluation criteria listed in the Funding Opportunity Announcement that includes topics such as qualifications, experience, capabilities, and expected greenhouse gas emission reduction. A DOE panel then reviewed scores and made final decisions on which Concept Papers to encourage or discourage.
A. DOE expects to award up to 65 projects in high greenhouse gas-emitting industries and for cross-cutting technologies. Consistent with the eligibility requirements discussed in Section 3 of the Funding Opportunity Announcement, for-profit organizations are eligible for awards under Topic Area 1 and owners or operators of a domestic, non-federal nonpower industrial or manufacturing facility engaged in energy intensive industrial processes are eligible for awards under Topic Areas 2 and 3.
A. Concept Papers were discouraged for many reasons, but one of the most common reasons was that the proposal included technologies outside of the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) specified for this Funding Opportunity Announcement, either because the technologies described were unready for commercial-scale demonstration or had already been proven. As stated in section 1.3.2.1 of the Funding Opportunity Announcement, projects under all Topic Areas need to start nominally at TRL 7 and advance to TRL 9 by the end of the project. DOE encouraged projects that could meet funding timelines, were replicable, showed promise for market viability, and outlined strategies and measures of accountability for community benefits.
A. DOE takes seriously the confidentiality of all applicants and will treat applications and related information as confidential to the fullest extent possible, provided that applicants have not opted to publicly release the information. However, applicants who submitted Concept Papers are free to publicize their Concept Papers and/or DOE’s response. To receive future news alerts from OCED, including updates on the Industrial Demonstrations Program project selections, sign up here.
A. Yes, applicants may share their Concept Papers and DOE’s response.
A. Yes, an encourage/discourage notification does not preclude any entity that submitted an eligible Concept Paper from submitting a Full Application.
A. No, an encourage notification simply means that the proposal is on the right path towards submitting a Full Application. DOE expects significant competition among applicants, even if only encouraged applicants submit Full Applications.
A. No, through discouraging the submission of a Full Application, DOE intends to convey its lack of interest in the proposed project for funding under this Funding Opportunity Announcement in order to save applicants the considerable time and expense of preparing a Full Application that is unlikely to be selected for award negotiations.
A. Yes, DOE will hold a webinar on June 7, 2023 for interested parties and those who submitted Concept Papers to provide common themes and points of information to inform Full Applications. Details on the webinar are available here.
A. Applying to multiple Funding Opportunity Announcements does not itself render a project ineligible to apply under this Funding Opportunity Announcement. As stated in Funding Opportunity Announcement Section 4.6.2.2.b: “Other Federal Support: Federal financing, such as grants or loan guarantees from federal agencies, cannot be leveraged by applicants to provide the required cost share or to otherwise support the same scope of the award. However, other federal support may be used for activities that fall outside of the award scope/budget.” Also note Funding Opportunity Announcement Section 4.6.2.13, which addresses when applicants are required to submit a potentially duplicate funding notification.
A. The success of the projects funded under this Funding Opportunity Announcement depend on engagement with and support from host communities, relevant labor partners and workforces, and other impacted groups. Applicants are required to include a Community Benefits Plan describing the steps applicants will take to engage with community and labor groups; invest in America’s workforce and advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; as well as the resources that are allocated to implementing the Community Benefits Plan. Additional information is available through our “Community Benefits Plan Guidance” under “APPLICATION FORMS AND TEMPLATES” in OCED. DOE will support successful applicants and host communities in ongoing community engagement as reflected in the Community Benefits Plans throughout the full project scope.
A. Additional information about this Funding Opportunity Announcement is available on OCED eXCHANGE. Applicants can review the Q&A log under the Industrial Decarbonization and Emissions Reduction Demonstration-To-Deployment Funding Opportunity Announcement section of OCED eXCHANGE.
A: Reviewer comments will be released in batches to applicants by topic area during Fall 2023.