ARPA-E Funding Opportunities

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) provides a continuing opportunity for the rapid support of early-stage applied research to explore innovative new concepts with the potential for transformational and disruptive changes in energy technology. Spurring Projects to Advance Energy Research and Knowledge Swiftly (SPARKS) awards are intended to be flexible and may take the form of analyses or exploratory research that provides the agency with useful information for the subsequent development of focused technology programs. SPARKS awards may also support proof-of-concept research to develop a unique technology concept, either in an area not currently supported by the agency or as a potential enhancement to an ongoing focused technology program. Applications must propose concepts that are not covered by open ARPA-E focused FOAs and that do not represent incremental improvements over existing technology.

SPARKS awards are defined as single-phase efforts of durations of 18 months or less with a total project cost of $500,000 or less and will be issued through Grants. ARPA-E expects to make approximately $10 million per fiscal year available for new awards, subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

The Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) Ready Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) provides a vital mechanism for the support of innovative energy R&D that complements ARPA-E’s primary R&D focus on early-stage transformational energy technologies that still require proof-of-concept.

An enduring challenge to ARPA-E’s mission is that even technologies that achieve substantial technical advancement under ARPA-E support face significant remaining technical and commercial risks upon completion of an award's funding period, and thus are at risk of being stranded in their development path once ARPA-E funding ends. Experience across ARPA-E’s diverse energy portfolios, and input from a wide range of investors and industry stakeholders, indicates that pre-commercial “scaling” projects are critical to establishing that performance and cost parameters can be met in practice for these potentially transformative technologies. These pre-commercial scaling projects aim to translate the performance achieved at bench scale to commercially scalable versions of the technology, integrate the technology with broader systems, provide extended performance data, and validate the manufacturability and reliability of new energy technologies. Success in these scaling projects should enable industry, investors, and partners to justify the substantial commitments of financial resources, personnel, manufacturing facilities, and materials necessary to subsequently deploy the technologies at commercial scale.

The objective of SCALEUP Ready is to support the scaling of high-risk and potentially disruptive new technologies across the full spectrum of energy applications. This NOFO focuses only on scale-up and pre-pilot projects of promising technologies that ARPA-E has previously funded – following highly competitive selection processes – and for which the scale-up award would substantially build upon innovations achieved under the original ARPA-E award.

This NOFO will remain open until closed or modified. Applications will be accepted any time while this NOFO remains open.

Update 11/1/24: A webinar providing an overview of the IGNIITE Program is available for potential applicants to view here: https://youtu.be/zO9s4EUU0ZE.

The Inspiring Generations of New Innovators to Impact Technologies in Energy (IGNIITE) 2025 program is designed to support a new cohort of early-career innovators to develop the most disruptive and unconventional ideas into transformative new technologies across the full spectrum of energy applications. This announcement is purposefully broad in technical scope, but eligibility is limited to early-career researchers. In addition to research efforts, awardees will engage with ARPA-E and fellow awardees through dedicated IGNIITE events, meetings, and mentorship activities.

Submissions to this solicitation must propose transformational R&D that has the potential for high impact. If successful, a project could create a new class or new trajectory for an energy technology, with the potential to substantially contribute to ARPA-E’s statutory goals.

Awards under this program may take the form of exploratory research that provides the agency with information useful for the subsequent development of focused technology programs. Alternatively, awards may support proof-of-concept research for a particular new technology in an area not currently supported by the agency.

The Quantum Computing for Computational Chemistry program (QC³) aims to harness the transformative power of quantum computing to accelerate energy innovation. Computation plays an essential role in modern R&D, but classical computers struggle to simulate quantum systems with the speed, scale, and accuracy necessary to advance many commercial energy applications. This program will support the R&D of scalable, generalizable quantum computing approaches to computational chemistry and materials science. These approaches will be exponentially faster than the classical computing state-of-the-art (SoA), improving speed, accuracy, or problem size by 100 times (100x). This could result in a cumulative energy impact of 1 quadrillion British thermal units (1 quad), which is equal to a reduction of roughly 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions from energy-related activities.

The QC³ program focuses on developing and applying quantum algorithms in key energy research areas where classical methods are insufficient. This includes the development of quantum chemistry algorithms, their translation into quantum circuits or analog programs, and rigorous validation against classical benchmarks and experiments. The goal is to validate these algorithms on a quantum computer with approximately 100 logical qubits to show scalability and practical advantages over classical computation for energy applications.

Projects under this program must complete the following program objectives:

1. Identify a specific problem in chemistry or materials science where a quantum solution, if scalable and generalizable, can lead to cumulative quad-scale energy impact or gigaton-scale reduction in energy-related CO₂e emissions.
2. Develop solutions which are optimized through the full quantum computational stack (applications, software/algorithms, and hardware). The solution must have a provable ability to scale effectively as quantum hardware improves.
3. Have access to and validate on quantum hardware.
4. Complete one of the following:
   1. Achieve a scalable 100x improvement over the classical SoA in speed, accuracy, problem size, or some other relevant capability on the identified energy-relevant problem; or
   2. Prove scalability using hardware resource estimation and running smaller dimensional problems on available quantum hardware if 100x improvement cannot be realized on the identified energy-relevant problem by the end of the performance period.

PLEASE NOTE: The Budget Justification Workbook / SF-424A template was updated on January 16, 2025. Please use the version labeled June 2024.

The Quantum Computing for Computational Chemistry program (QC³) aims to harness the transformative power of quantum computing to accelerate energy innovation. Computation plays an essential role in modern R&D, but classical computers struggle to simulate quantum systems with the speed, scale, and accuracy necessary to advance many commercial energy applications. This program will support the R&D of scalable, generalizable quantum computing approaches to computational chemistry and materials science. These approaches will be exponentially faster than the classical computing state-of-the-art (SoA), improving speed, accuracy, or problem size by 100 times (100x). This could result in a cumulative energy impact of 1 quadrillion British thermal units (1 quad), which is equal to a reduction of roughly 1 gigaton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions from energy-related activities.

The QC³ program focuses on developing and applying quantum algorithms in key energy research areas where classical methods are insufficient. This includes the development of quantum chemistry algorithms, their translation into quantum circuits or analog programs, and rigorous validation against classical benchmarks and experiments. The goal is to validate these algorithms on a quantum computer with approximately 100 logical qubits to show scalability and practical advantages over classical computation for energy applications.

Projects under this program must complete the following program objectives:

1. Identify a specific problem in chemistry or materials science where a quantum solution, if scalable and generalizable, can lead to cumulative quad-scale energy impact or gigaton-scale reduction in energy-related CO₂e emissions.
2. Develop solutions which are optimized through the full quantum computational stack (applications, software/algorithms, and hardware). The solution must have a provable ability to scale effectively as quantum hardware improves.
3. Have access to and validate on quantum hardware.
4. Complete one of the following:
   1. Achieve a scalable 100x improvement over the classical SoA in speed, accuracy, problem size, or some other relevant capability on the identified energy-relevant problem; or
   2. Prove scalability using hardware resource estimation and running smaller dimensional problems on available quantum hardware if 100x improvement cannot be realized on the identified energy-relevant problem by the end of the performance period.

As of 12/18/2024 Concept Paper Notifications have been sent and Encourage / Discourage Decisions are visible by logging into eXCHANGE.

The submission deadline for Full Applications is at 9:30 AM ET on February 7, 2025.

The Galvanizing Leaps in Advanced Super INsulating Glass (GLASING) program will develop Insulated Glass Units (IGUs) for new and retrofit applications that have more than three times the thermal performance of the 50-year-old double-pane IGU technology in wide use at competitive cost and optical performance. This program leverages advances in materials, manufacturing, design, and reliability. Areas of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• Rapidly manufacture Vacuum Insulated Glazings (VIGs), using unconventional edge sealing materials and processes, innovative methods to create or place spacers, and efficient establishment of the required vacuum; and
• Dramatically reduce the time required to manufacture aerogels in the required thicknesses while maintaining acceptable levels of clarity and haze.

The GLASING program seeks to overcome technology barriers to developing high performance IGUs suitable for new and retrofit markets that are cost competitive with double-pane IGUs with low-emissivity (low-e) coating and argon fill. The program encourages the formation of multidisciplinary teams with expertise in relevant areas such as materials, simulation, thermal analysis, manufacturing, industrial engineering, techno-economic analysis, reliability, chemistry, and other fields. Each team will develop 0.6 m by 0.6 m IGU prototypes with whole-window R-values exceeding R-10. Technical designs and processes developed by teams will be evaluated by industrial equipment designers to ensure commercialization viability and the ability to scale to mass manufacturing. Thermal, optical, and durability testing of the IGU prototypes will be performed by third-party certifiers.

The goal of DC-GRIDS is to enable the rapid expansion of the grid’s capacity by making HVDC transmission systems cost-comparable with conventional AC technology. This will lead to higher grid resiliency, energy availability, performance, and lower deployment time (if HVDC can use the existing overhead and underground transmission infrastructure rights-of-way). The program will also enable true multi-directional power routing with flexible interconnections between new and existing AC and direct current (DC) lines, making integration of sustainable energy sources faster and easier.

This program will focus on two technical categories:

1. Category A: Novel submodules and modular high-voltage power electronic valves; and
2. Category B: Technologies that enable highly compact multi-terminal converter stations.
   

Technological breakthroughs under Category A will enable the availability of low-cost, vendor-agnostic valves that can be plug-and-play-ready and able to flexibly operate together in the same HVDC converter station. This would lead to a competitive economy that will drive down the cost of valves, and consequently converters, enabling their wider deployment. Technologies under Category B will make conversion of existing AC substations into HVDC converter stations possible. By realizing a higher-capacity grid where DC and AC transmission operates in a highly coordinated fashion, DC-GRIDS can lead to higher grid resiliency and significantly improved flexibility when integrating new electricity sources (e.g., offshore wind) onto the U.S. grid.

The goal of DC-GRIDS is to enable the rapid expansion of the grid’s capacity by making HVDC transmission systems cost-comparable with conventional AC technology. This will lead to higher grid resiliency, energy availability, performance, and lower deployment time (if HVDC can use the existing overhead and underground transmission infrastructure rights-of-way). The program will also enable true multi-directional power routing with flexible interconnections between new and existing AC and direct current (DC) lines, making integration of sustainable energy sources faster and easier.

This program will focus on two technical categories:

1. Category A: Novel submodules and modular high-voltage power electronic valves; and
2. Category B: Technologies that enable highly compact multi-terminal converter stations.
   

Technological breakthroughs under Category A will enable the availability of low-cost, vendor-agnostic valves that can be plug-and-play-ready and able to flexibly operate together in the same HVDC converter station. This would lead to a competitive economy that will drive down the cost of valves, and consequently converters, enabling their wider deployment. Technologies under Category B will make conversion of existing AC substations into HVDC converter stations possible. By realizing a higher-capacity grid where DC and AC transmission operates in a highly coordinated fashion, DC-GRIDS can lead to higher grid resiliency and significantly improved flexibility when integrating new electricity sources (e.g., offshore wind) onto the U.S. grid.

The Catalytic Application Testing for Accelerated Learning Chemistries via High-throughput Experimentation and Modeling Efficiently (CATALCHEM-E) program aims to disrupt and accelerate the design and development cycle for heterogeneous catalyst R&D workflows. The program will span from rational material discovery to synthesis and final reactor testing. These novel workflows will be developed by coupling the latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) with high-throughput experimentation (HTE) to verifiably complete 10–15 years of traditional catalysis R&D work within 12–18 months, thus achieving more than a ten-time acceleration in the catalyst development cycle. The program will then use these new tools to discover and optimize catalytic chemistries relevant to ARPA-E’s goals. These new chemistries will ultimately help advance the objective of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Innovations developed under the CATALCHEM-E program will involve:

Future refinery relevant or other next-generation feedstocks such as hydrogen (H₂), nitrogen (N₂), oxygen (O₂), water (H₂O), carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), ammonia (NH₃), methanol (MeOH), ethanol (EtOH), bio-intermediates (C_xH_yO_z), waste plastics, and triglycerides (TAGs); and

Products like ethylene (C₂⁼) and propylene (C₃⁼) as low carbon monomers, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), diesel, and syngas as distillate range hydrocarbons.

The Catalytic Application Testing for Accelerated Learning Chemistries via High-throughput Experimentation and Modeling Efficiently SBIR/STTR (CATALCHEM-E SBIR/STTR) program aims to disrupt and accelerate the design and development cycle for heterogeneous catalyst R&D workflows. The program will span from rational material discovery to synthesis and final reactor testing. These novel workflows will be developed by coupling the latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) with high-throughput experimentation (HTE) to verifiably complete 10–15 years of traditional catalysis R&D work within 12–18 months, thus achieving more than a ten-time acceleration in the catalyst development cycle. The program will then use these new tools to discover and optimize catalytic chemistries relevant to ARPA-E’s goals. These new chemistries will ultimately help advance the objective of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Innovations developed under the CATALCHEM-E program will involve:

Future refinery relevant or other next-generation feedstocks such as hydrogen (H₂), nitrogen (N₂), oxygen (O₂), water (H₂O), carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), ammonia (NH₃), methanol (MeOH), ethanol (EtOH), bio-intermediates (C_xH_yO_z), waste plastics, and triglycerides (TAGs); and

Products like ethylene (C₂⁼) and propylene (C₃⁼) as low carbon monomers, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), diesel, and syngas as distillate range hydrocarbons.

Note: Mod 01 released to clarify a definition in Section I.E.

The submission deadline for Concept Papers is at 9:30 AM ET on December 31, 2024.

The RECOVER program seeks to develop technologies to concentrate and recover high value energy materials from aqueous waste streams. Priority high value energy materials for the program are ammonia and metals considered critical to energy and diversifying the U.S. supply chain. Ammonia is produced using the Haber-Bosch process with a high energy and greenhouse gas penalty, and much of this ammonia ends up in municipal and animal waste streams where it is destroyed without recovery. Critical metals are obtained from ore mining and processing and are almost entirely sourced from overseas; their use in infrastructure and military technologies makes their supply a matter of national concern. Produced water and mining waste streams have sufficient amounts of key critical metals to displace all or most of U.S. imports.

The RECOVER program will enable: i) the replacement of 50% of conventional ammonia supplies, and all or partial critical metals imports, ii) the valorization of multiple high value energy materials from an aqueous waste stream, iii) the reduction of energy demands and CO₂-equivalent (CO₂eq) emissions for ammonia and critical metals procurement, and iv) the recovery of market-valuable products at competitive prices. Recovery of market-valuable products will create new revenue sources for aqueous waste stream processors, thereby reducing net costs and contributing to improved water treatment outcomes.

Relevant waste stream targets are municipal or animal feedlot waste streams, produced water waste streams, and mining waste streams. New technology development efforts under the RECOVER program include three technical categories: 1) new materials, 2) process development and derisking, and 3) process integration. Capable technologies will be energy efficient, highly selective, and durable over extended use. Processes will involve limited sequential steps, be scalable, and be adaptable to existing or new wastewater facilities.

Note: Mod 01 released to clarify a definition in Section I.F.

The submission deadline for Concept Papers is at 9:30 AM ET on December 31, 2024.

The Realize Energy-rich Compound Opportunities Valorizing Extraction from Refuse waters (RECOVER) program seeks to develop technologies to concentrate and recover high value energy materials from aqueous waste streams. Priority high value energy materials for the program are ammonia and metals considered critical to energy and diversifying the U.S. supply chain. Ammonia is produced using the Haber-Bosch process with a high energy and greenhouse gas penalty, and much of this ammonia ends up in municipal and animal waste streams where it is destroyed without recovery. Critical metals are obtained from ore mining and processing and are almost entirely sourced from overseas; their use in infrastructure and military technologies makes their supply a matter of national concern. Produced water and mining waste streams have sufficient amounts of key critical metals to displace all or most of U.S. imports.

The RECOVER program will enable: i) the replacement of 50% of conventional ammonia supplies, and all or partial critical metals imports, ii) the valorization of multiple high value energy materials from an aqueous waste stream, iii) the reduction of energy demands and CO₂-equivalent (CO₂eq) emissions for ammonia and critical metals procurement, and iv) the recovery of market-valuable products at competitive prices. Recovery of market-valuable products will create new revenue sources for aqueous waste stream processors, thereby reducing net costs and contributing to improved water treatment outcomes.

Relevant waste stream targets are municipal or animal feedlot waste streams, produced water waste streams, and mining waste streams. New technology development efforts under the RECOVER program include three technical categories: 1) new materials, 2) process development and derisking, and 3) process integration. Capable technologies will be energy efficient, highly selective, and durable over extended use. Processes will involve limited sequential steps, be scalable, and be adaptable to existing or new wastewater facilities.'

The Harnessing Autonomy for Energy Joint ventures Offshore (HAEJO) program will support the development of technical solutions to reduce the cost of seaweed biomass cultivation by a factor of four when scaled, from the low thousands today to $120-275 per Dry Metric Ton (DMT, 10% moisture) depending on the cultivated species. The program will also develop energy-centric, million-ton-scale markets in the United States, focusing on agricultural biostimulants that support the reduction of synthetic fertilizer use in the row crop industry and the utilization of carbon from seaweed biomass.

HAEJO features three technical objectives:

1. The development of new sensors and models to enable real-time, remote, and persistent understanding of farm state offshore;

2. Engineering solutions to enable offshore scale including hardware and control systems to enable the crop to periodically access deep water nutrients, and methods of dewatering harvests at sea to improve the economics of biomass transport and extend shelf life; and

3. The discovery of biostimulant mechanisms and investigation of their applicability to bioenergy row crops as a direct product line, and other new, innovative approaches such as carbon removal that harness embodied carbon and other components of seaweed to address U.S. energy needs.

HAEJO aims to engage technology developers from a broad range of backgrounds including optical, acoustic, electromagnetic, and chemical sensors, data-driven modeling, marine engineering and materials, moisture harvesting and hydrophilic/hydrophobic materials and processes, biostimulant analysis and terrestrial agriculture sciences. HAEJO also targets seaweed cultivation groups, processors and market developers.

Eligible recipients include U.S.-based lead organizations capable of achieving technical success in meeting or exceeding the metrics stated in this NOFO. Collaboration with Korean entities to leverage experience in scaled seaweed cultivation research and implementation is strongly encouraged

The Harnessing Autonomy for Energy Joint ventures Offshore (HAEJO) program will support the development of technical solutions to reduce the cost of seaweed biomass cultivation by a factor of four when scaled, from the low thousands today to $120-275 per Dry Metric Ton (DMT, 10% moisture) depending on the cultivated species. The program will also develop energy-centric, million-ton-scale markets in the United States, focusing on agricultural biostimulants that support the reduction of synthetic fertilizer use in the row crop industry and the utilization of carbon from seaweed biomass.

HAEJO features three technical objectives:

1. The development of new sensors and models to enable real-time, remote, and persistent understanding of farm state offshore;

2. Engineering solutions to enable offshore scale including hardware and control systems to enable the crop to periodically access deep water nutrients, and methods of dewatering harvests at sea to improve the economics of biomass transport and extend shelf life; and

3. The discovery of biostimulant mechanisms and investigation of their applicability to bioenergy row crops as a direct product line, and other new, innovative approaches such as carbon removal that harness embodied carbon and other components of seaweed to address U.S. energy needs.

HAEJO aims to engage technology developers from a broad range of backgrounds including optical, acoustic, electromagnetic, and chemical sensors, data-driven modeling, marine engineering and materials, moisture harvesting and hydrophilic/hydrophobic materials and processes, biostimulant analysis and terrestrial agriculture sciences. HAEJO also targets seaweed cultivation groups, processors and market developers.

Eligible recipients include U.S.-based lead organizations capable of achieving technical success in meeting or exceeding the metrics stated in this NOFO. Collaboration with Korean entities to leverage experience in scaled seaweed cultivation research and implementation is strongly encouraged

The Grid Reliability with Automatic Damping and Inertia for Electrical Networks and Transmission Systems (GRADIENTS) program will support the development of disruptive grid assets and control solutions enabling renewable energy systems to provide and improve services traditionally supported by large conventional synchronous generators. The program will drive advancements in grid resilience, efficiency, and adaptability. By addressing and coordinating resources that can provide inertia (energy) and damping (control) with fast frequency regulation across the grid, GRADIENTS will improve reliability in high-renewable penetration scenarios, mitigating blackout risks, reducing potential curtailment of renewables, lowering operational costs, and maximizing economic viability.

Projects in this program will cover technologies in three categories:

1. Flexible Renewable Generation: Projects in this category shall encourage improved power electronics co-design solutions that include some form of storage (battery less short-term energy storage solutions for a few seconds at rated power), in addition to advanced control solutions. Category 1 projects shall include experiments that analyze the performance of the intelligent renewable generators under a set of major potential contingencies and different topology scenarios.
2. Intelligent Automatic Relays: Projects under this category shall develop new fast-acting relays with smart sensors, automatic contingency prediction, impedance estimation, stability assessment, and under-frequency/under-voltage load-shedding capabilities for emergency operation, as well as other new and improved functionalities.
3. Wide-Area RT-CCD: Projects under Category 3 shall develop new optimization control algorithms for energy (inertia) allocation, control authority (damping) allocation, and load-shedding allocation in the grid. Leveraging information from Category 1 and Category 2, grid operators can take a more holistic approach to resolving scenarios for normal and emergency operation while optimizing the grid and its generation assets. This category seeks submissions that address critical challenges in advancing power grid stability and resilience through innovative tools and testing platforms. The projects shall develop advanced operational tools and their validation.

The Grid Reliability with Automatic Damping and Inertia for Electrical Networks and Transmission Systems SBIR/STTR (GRADIENTS SBIR/STTR) program will support the development of disruptive grid assets and control solutions enabling renewable energy systems to provide and improve services traditionally supported by large conventional synchronous generators. The program will drive advancements in grid resilience, efficiency, and adaptability. By addressing and coordinating resources that can provide inertia (energy) and damping (control) with fast frequency regulation across the grid, GRADIENTS will improve reliability in high-renewable penetration scenarios, mitigating blackout risks, reducing potential curtailment of renewables, lowering operational costs, and maximizing economic viability.

Projects in this program will cover technologies in three categories:

1. Flexible Renewable Generation: Projects in this category shall encourage improved power electronics co-design solutions that include some form of storage (battery less short-term energy storage solutions for a few seconds at rated power), in addition to advanced control solutions. Category 1 projects shall include experiments that analyze the performance of the intelligent renewable generators under a set of major potential contingencies and different topology scenarios.
2. Intelligent Automatic Relays: Projects under this category shall develop new fast-acting relays with smart sensors, automatic contingency prediction, impedance estimation, stability assessment, and under-frequency/under-voltage load-shedding capabilities for emergency operation, as well as other new and improved functionalities.
3. Wide-Area RT-CCD: Projects under Category 3 shall develop new optimization control algorithms for energy (inertia) allocation, control authority (damping) allocation, and load-shedding allocation in the grid. Leveraging information from Category 1 and Category 2, grid operators can take a more holistic approach to resolving scenarios for normal and emergency operation while optimizing the grid and its generation assets. This category seeks submissions that address critical challenges in advancing power grid stability and resilience through innovative tools and testing platforms. The projects shall develop advanced operational tools and their validation.

The SUPERHOT program will support the research and development of technologies that enable the production of geothermal energy from super-hot reservoirs (>375 °C and >22 MPa) for 15 years or more. This program seeks to fund the development of novel technologies for well construction, enhance testing facilities, and optimize reservoir heat extraction to make super-hot geothermal production a reality. The program will have two categories:

The program will have two categories:

• Category 1: Technologies related to the construction of robust super-hot wells and validation services for quality assurance of new well designs and materials. This focus will involve new materials, novel well solutions, and state-of-the-art testing facilities to assess these new approaches.

• Category 2: Technologies related to the extraction of heat from the reservoir to the well. The focus of this category is to develop fracture based and non-fracture-based methods for extracting heat from a super-hot reservoir (potentially composed of ductile rocks) to a working fluid in a well.

This program seeks to fund the development of novel technologies for well construction, enhance testing facilities, and optimize reservoir heat extraction to make super-hot geothermal production a reality.

The SUPERHOT program will support the research and development of technologies that enable the production of geothermal energy from super-hot reservoirs (>375 °C and >22 MPa) for 15 years or more. This program seeks to fund the development of novel technologies for well construction, enhance testing facilities, and optimize reservoir heat extraction to make super-hot geothermal production a reality. The program will have two categories:

The program will have two categories:

• Category 1: Technologies related to the construction of robust super-hot wells and validation services for quality assurance of new well designs and materials. This focus will involve new materials, novel well solutions, and state-of-the-art testing facilities to assess these new approaches.

• Category 2: Technologies related to the extraction of heat from the reservoir to the well. The focus of this category is to develop fracture based and non-fracture-based methods for extracting heat from a super-hot reservoir (potentially composed of ductile rocks) to a working fluid in a well.

This program seeks to fund the development of novel technologies for well construction, enhance testing facilities, and optimize reservoir heat extraction to make super-hot geothermal production a reality.

The goal of the PERSEPHONE program is to develop disruptive new technologies for bioenergy crop genetic engineering. Bioenergy provides about 5% of domestic energy consumption and has the potential to provide 5-10% more. Agriculture also could revolutionize the energy sector in other ways, such as providing precursors for chemicals and materials that are currently derived from petroleum. However, bioenergy crops may not maintain their current utility, much less achieve their potential, without transformative advances in tools to engineer them. Genetic engineering is an essential strategy to realize U.S. bioenergy potential and security.

The PERSEPHONE program will develop high-performance tools for bioenergy crop engineering, create novel genetic engineering modalities, and spur adoption by supporting innovative research on biocontainment. Specifically, PERSEPHONE aims to support the development of tools that could lead to an annual impact of the production of at least 1 quad of energy or mitigation of more than 60 MT of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e).

The program will support projects in three areas:

Technical Category A will develop robust, high performaing tools for the genetic engineering of bioenergy crops that overcome transformation genotype dependence, increase throughput 10x, and/or reduce cost and timeline by 4x and 2x, respectively.

Technical Category B will support the creation of radically new technologies for plant genetic engineering that have a pathway to achieve metrics well beyond the targets established in Category A.

Technical Category C will support adoption of genetically engineered bioenergy crops by developing technologies to reduce the risks of invasiveness to less than 0.1 percent and eliminate the flow of transgenes into the environment.

The goal of the PERSEPHONE SBIR/STTR program is to develop disruptive new technologies for bioenergy crop genetic engineering. Bioenergy provides about 5% of domestic energy consumption and has the potential to provide 5-10% more. Agriculture also could revolutionize the energy sector in other ways, such as providing precursors for chemicals and materials that are currently derived from petroleum. However, bioenergy crops may not maintain their current utility, much less achieve their potential, without transformative advances in tools to engineer them. Genetic engineering is an essential strategy to realize U.S. bioenergy potential and security.

The PERSEPHONE SBIR/STTR program will develop high-performance tools for bioenergy crop engineering, create novel genetic engineering modalities, and spur adoption by supporting innovative research on biocontainment. Specifically, PERSEPHONE aims to support the development of tools that could lead to an annual impact of the production of at least 1 quad of energy or mitigation of more than 60 MT of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO₂e).

The program will support projects in three areas:

Technical Category A will develop robust, high performaing tools for the genetic engineering of bioenergy crops that overcome transformation genotype dependence, increase throughput 10x, and/or reduce cost and timeline by 4x and 2x, respectively.

Technical Category B will support the creation of radically new technologies for plant genetic engineering that have a pathway to achieve metrics well beyond the targets established in Category A.

Technical Category C will support adoption of genetically engineered bioenergy crops by developing technologies to reduce the risks of invasiveness to less than 0.1 percent and eliminate the flow of transgenes into the environment.

NOTE: The deadline for RFI responses has been extended to February 12, 2025, at 5:00 PM.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit input for a potential future ARPA-E program focused on improving the performance and efficiency of unit operations in refining and petrochemical plants by leveraging heat input from nuclear heat transfer fluids rather than from combustion. ARPA-E seeks information regarding transformative and implementable technologies to facilitate this integration. ARPA-E previously issued an RFI on Nuclear Hybrid and Non-Electricity Energy Systems, DE-FOA-0003011, in February 2023. Questions in this RFI reflect the refined scope of the potential program.

ARPA-E has identified three areas of interest for using nuclear energy to decarbonize process heating demands in refineries and petrochemical plants:

1. Development of process-intensified reactors for endothermic processes;
2. Novel heat transfer and heat augmentation technologies; and
3. Process dynamics of incorporating a traditionally firm (nuclear) heat source with volatile demands.

Coupling nuclear with oil and gas operations will require both technical and commercial innovation in areas such as process co-design and co-optimization, sensors, controls, and thermal buffering interface-component development while meeting reliability, availability, and durability metrics cost effectively.

This RFI aims to gather information from interested and relevant stakeholders about opportunities and challenges in the technical, technology-to-market, and safety aspects of coupling of nuclear heat and/or power to industrial processes beyond pure power and/or steam production. The questions posed in the section below are based on the following program-level assumptions:

• Nuclear heat or combined heat and power (CHP) is a viable route to decarbonizing industrial processes;
• Regulatory approvals can be obtained on a predictable basis;
• The associated nuclear fuel cycle (including waste processing and geologic disposal) can be reliably and economically defined and implemented; and
• Warranty protection and insurability can be established.

RFI Guidelines:

Note that the information you provide will be used by ARPA-E solely for program planning, without attribution. THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS RFI DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY. NO FUNDING OPPORTUNITY EXISTS AT THIS TIME.

The purpose of this RFI is solely to solicit input for ARPA-E’s consideration to inform the possible formulation of future research programs. ARPA-E will not provide funding or compensation for any information submitted in response to this RFI, and ARPA-E may use information submitted to this RFI without any attribution to the source. This RFI provides the broad research community with an opportunity to contribute views and opinions.

No material submitted for review will be returned and there will be no formal or informal debriefing concerning the review of any submitted material. ARPA-E may contact respondents to request clarification or seek additional information relevant to this RFI. All responses provided will be considered, but ARPA-E will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. Respondents shall not include any information in the response to this RFI that could be considered proprietary or confidential.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted in PDF format to the email address ARPA-E-RFI@hq.doe.gov by 5:00 PM Eastern Time on February 12, 2025.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) has issued Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) SCALEUP Ready to support the scaling of promising ARPA-E-funded technologies into early commercial products.

The purpose of this announcement is to facilitate collaboration among potential performing teams to respond to the SCALEUP Ready NOFO. The NOFO provides specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. NOFO terms are controlling.

The SCALEUP Ready program provides a vital mechanism for the support of innovative energy research and development (R&D) that complements ARPA-E’s primary focus on early-stage transformational energy technologies that still require proof of concept. ARPA-E intends for this NOFO to remain open until closed or modified. Applications will be accepted at any time while this NOFO remains open.

ARPA-E’s mission is to develop and deploy transformational energy technologies in support of U.S. national security and economic competitiveness goals. ARPA-E funds the R&D of energy technologies that, among other goals, reduce imports of energy from foreign sources; reduce energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases; and improve the energy efficiency of all economic sectors. ARPA-E’s authorizing statute directs the Agency to ensure that the U.S. maintains a lead in developing advanced energy technologies through accelerating transformational technological advances that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical and financial uncertainty.

Technologies that achieve substantial technical advancement under ARPA-E support may still face significant technical and commercial challenges upon completion of an award's funding period, and thus are at risk of being stranded in their development path once ARPA-E funding ends. Experience across ARPA-E’s diverse energy portfolios, and input from a wide range of investors and industry stakeholders, indicate that pre-commercial scaling projects are critical to establish practical performance and cost parameters. These pre-commercial scaling projects aim to 1) translate the performance achieved at bench scale to commercially scalable versions of the technology, 2) integrate the technology with broader systems, 3) provide extended performance data, and 4) validate the manufacturability and reliability of new energy technologies. Successful scaling projects should enable industry stakeholders to justify the substantial commitments of financial resources, personnel, manufacturing facilities, and materials necessary to subsequently deploy the technologies at a commercial scale.

The SCALEUP Ready program seeks to scale the most promising technologies previously funded by ARPA-E. The possibility of ARPA-E funded technologies becoming stranded along their development pathways leaves substantial intellectual property developed with American taxpayer dollars vulnerable to adoption by foreign competitors, who capture it for continued development and economic benefit overseas. This harms national competitiveness, as U.S. industries often fall behind on the development, scaling, and manufacturing of technologies necessary to compete in rapidly evolving global energy markets. Thus, projects selected for the program will meet ARPA-E’s statutory goals by “accelerating transformational technological advances in areas that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical and financial uncertainty.”

ARPA-E strongly encourages different organizations with outstanding entrepreneurial scientists and engineers along with commercialization and financial entities across diverse sectors to participate in this program. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

ARPA-E is compiling a Teaming Partner List for SCALEUP Ready as an optional tool that applicants may choose to utilize to facilitate the formation of new project teams and identify possible collaborations. Teaming Partners include organizations and individuals who can offer expertise, facilities, or other complementary resources toward a potential ARPA-E project. The teaming list includes fields for potential partners’ capabilities and areas of interest, understanding that expertise in one field can often be applied successfully to another field.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. ARPA-E intends to make the Teaming Partner List available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting in October 2024. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically as long as the NOFO remains open to reflect the addition of new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on the Teaming Partner List should complete all required fields in the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/TeamingPartners.aspx. Required information includes the following: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

In the “Brief Description of Capabilities” field, include the following details:

• Specify whether your organization is interested in participating in a potential project as a project team lead or partner.
• Describe the types of partners you are seeking to assemble for a project team if interested in participating as a project lead.
• Describe the role(s) your organization can fill if interested in participating as a partner. Roles may include but are not limited to potential customers, end-users, suppliers, strategic investors, manufacturers, distributors, or financial partners. Additionally, provide details on the specific capabilities offered.

By submitting a response to this Teaming Partner List, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted via email or other means will not be considered. Participation in and utilization of this list is completely voluntary. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the teaming list and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the NOFO.

This notice does not constitute a NOFO. Applicants must refer to the SCALEUP Ready NOFO, issued on October 2, 2024, for instructions on applying and for the terms and conditions of funding. Questions about the NOFO should be directed to ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) entitled Disruptive DC Converters for Grid Resilient Infrastructure to Deliver Sustainable energy (DC-GRIDS) to target transformative technologies that would enable a multi-terminal high-voltage direct current transmission (MT-HVDC) grid. This MT-HVDC grid would accelerate adoption of offshore power transmission, conversion of high voltage alternating current (HVAC) corridors to HVDC, and interconnection of the three U.S. electrical grids to rapidly expand grid capacity while improving resiliency and performance. The purpose of this Teaming Partner List announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the potential NOFO. Any NOFO issued in the future would provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. If there are any inconsistencies between this announcement and the potential NOFO, the NOFO language would be controlling.

Specifically, this program would focus on:

• Novel submodules and modular high-voltage power electronic valves; and
• Technologies that enable highly compact multi-terminal converter stations.

The focus on novel high-voltage power electronic valves is to enable lower-cost, vendor-agnostic, and mass-produced kilovolt-level (kV) submodules and greater than 30 kV-rated modular converter valves with standardized interoperability and redundancy. This will enable low-cost and compact multi-terminal converter stations.

Similarly, the focus on MT-HVDC converter station technology is to develop standardized, highly compact, vendor-agnostic, lower-cost stations enabling high grid resiliency, capacity release of the existing grid, and significantly improved flexibility and operational performance. The goal is to enable conversion of existing AC substations into HVDC converter stations for a networked DC grid via a 65% footprint reduction from the conventional HVDC stations. Additionally, an 80% volume reduction of offshore converter stations is required to achieve lower-cost and higher-speed offshore wind technology deployment. This ambitious effort to lower costs, standardize the MT-HVDC designs, and reduce the size of converter stations will fast-track transmission build-out on existing infrastructure and rights-of-way.

Furthermore, the program would aim to develop high-fidelity electromagnetic transient models of submodules, valves, HVDC converters, and associated components to aid real-time simulations and emulations and multi-terminal AC and DC mixed grid operation. The fidelity of certain models would be validated with hardware developed under this potential future program.

ARPA-E held a workshop on this topic in June 2024. Information on this workshop can be found at https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/macro-electronic-multi-terminal-grid-workshop.

ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams, particularly with expertise in power electronics and other related fields. Partnership with system integrators, equipment vendors, developers, and utilities and/or independent system operators (ISOs) is expected. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting in October 2024. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically until the close of the Full Application period to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following form: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting your information to this Teaming Partner List, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered. Participation in and utilization of this list is completely voluntary. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the list and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the potential funding opportunity.

This list does not constitute a NOFO. A NOFO does not exist at this time. Applicants must refer to the NOFO, expected to be issued by November 2024, for instructions on applying and for details on how projects will be funded.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support the development of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled, accelerated research and development (R&D) workflows for energy-relevant, heterogeneous, thermochemical, and electrochemical catalysts. The purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new, multi-disciplinary project teams to respond to a potential future NOFO. Any NOFO issued in the future would provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. If there are any inconsistencies between this announcement and the potential NOFO, the NOFO language would be controlling.

This potential NOFO would focus on:

• Innovations in high-throughput catalyst design experimental methods and state-of-the-art AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms and models; and
• Integration of these innovations into catalysis R&D workflows to automate and accelerate the development of heterogeneous catalysts.

These technology developments would significantly contribute toward ARPA-E’s statutory goals by improving energy efficiency, reducing energy-related emissions through new feedstocks, and reducing imports associated with critical materials.

The anticipated goals of the potential program include the following:

• Development of AI-enabled “closed-loop” or other potentially disruptive workflows to accelerate the design and development cycle for chemistries relevant to ARPA-E’s mission, which will ultimately help advance the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 (e.g., “future refinery relevant” or other next generation feedstocks and products);
• Synthesis of new “drop-in” manufacturable technical catalysts in engineered forms at kilogram scale for thermochemical or electrochemical reactor systems, as well as evaluation of these technical catalysts for performance under realistic, industrial conditions; and
• Generation of AI-ready databases by combining and pre-processing high-quality, multi-scale, multi-modal data as generated and gathered from synthesis, characterization, and performance testing tasks at the ab initio, as well as at the research and technical catalyst levels.

The potential program is expected to consist of a three-year performance period. It is anticipated that the program will transform and disrupt traditional catalysis R&D workflows by tightly coupling state-of-the-art advances in hardware for high-throughput catalyst design experimental methods with modern software tools and techniques in AI/ML, data science, and data engineering such that an equivalent 10 – 15 years of traditional catalysis R&D work can be verifiably completed (through rediscovery) within 12 – 18 months, effectively demonstrating a more than 10x acceleration in the catalyst development cycle. Further impact will be realized by utilizing these acceleration methods for novel catalyst-reaction discovery and co-design. The potential NOFO encourages the development of closed-loop and other promising, automated workflow topologies that enable inverse design of heterogenous catalysts.

Teams composed of experts in the following areas may be useful in responding to the potential NOFO (see attached document for more detail on each category):

• Materials acceleration and high-throughput experimentation (HTE) (hardware and software)
• AI/ML
• Catalysis
• Industrial catalysis and manufacturing

Successful teams are likely to include subject matter experts from all identified areas. Although a single person may be able to fill more than one of these roles, a complete set of experts is unlikely to exist within any single organization. Furthermore, due to timing and resource constraints typical of ARPA-E programs, it is generally recommended that any applicant project team would need to secure access to existing HTE hardware.

ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting in October 2024. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically until the close of the Full Application period to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the form found at the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes the following: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting your information to this Teaming Partner List, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered. Participation in and utilization of this list is completely voluntary. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the list and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the potential funding opportunity.

This list does not constitute a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). A NOFO does not exist at this time. Applicants must refer to the funding opportunity, expected to be issued by November 2024, for instructions on applying and for details on how projects will be funded.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support the development of new technologies to recover high energy-value materials from wastewater to reduce reliance on foreign imports, domestic energy demands, and greenhouse gas emissions associated with conventional sourcing and waste stream treatment. The purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to a potential future NOFO. Any NOFO issued in the future would provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. If there are any inconsistencies between this announcement and the potential NOFO, the NOFO language would be controlling.

The anticipated goal of the program is to develop technology to recover multiple critical minerals and/or ammonia-based products from domestic wastewater sources. Critical minerals of highest interest are those designated by the Department of Energy as the 12 most energy and supply-chain relevant metals, including lithium, cobalt, and rare-earth elements. Ammonia-based products include fertilizers, other high-value nitrogen products, and hydrogen from ammonia oxidation. Wastewater is broadly defined and may include (but is not limited to) municipal, livestock, industrial, and mining waste streams. Capable technologies for recovery of high energy-value ammonia and critical minerals will be energy efficient, highly selective, and durable over extended use. Preferable processes will be continuous, involve few sequential steps, easily adaptable to existing or new wastewater facilities, and scalable (e.g., modular).

Several technical categories are foreseen to achieve this objective, including:

1. New functional-materials development to address the difficulty of separating and concentrating target ions of similar size, charge, redox potential, and solubility within the complex and harsh conditions of a target wastewater matrix;
2. Process derisking to enable continuous or repeated cycles of efficient recovery of a market-valuable product in minimal steps (again within the complex and harsh conditions of a target wastewater matrix); and
3. Process integration to ensure technologies are capable of energy-efficient and continuous recovery of market-valuable product in a real wastewater matrix, and that the process is scalable to anticipated wastewater flow rates.

For all categories, the final recovered products will need to include at least two targeted high energy-value materials, have greater than 90% recovery efficiency, and be commercially viable in the U.S. market.

Expertise in the following areas may be useful in responding to the potential NOFO:

• Organic synthesis, chelation, and/or redox chemistries
• Water/wastewater chemistry
• Synthetic/molecular biology
• Biologically-inspired separations
• Electrochemical separations
• Ion exchange separations
• Membrane separations
• Process engineering
• Wastewater treatment, operation, and/or management
• Techno-economic assessment

ARPA-E held a workshop on this topic in August 2024. Information on this workshop can be found at https://arpa-e.energy.gov/events/ammonia-critical-minerals-recovery-workshop.

ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to submit their information to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting in October 2024. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically until the close of the Full Application period to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the form at the following link: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes the following: Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting a response to this Notice, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered. This list is completely voluntarily to participate in and utilize. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the Teaming Partner List and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the potential NOFO.

This Notice does not constitute a NOFO. No NOFO exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the NOFO, expected to be issued by November 2024, for instructions on submitting an application and for details on how projects will be funded.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support research and development of technologies that would enable a scaled, offshore seaweed industry, creating a gigaton-scale supply of sustainable hydrocarbons without significant disruption of existing industries and no additional requirements for land, fresh water, or artificial fertilizer. Specifically, this NOFO would fund the development of new sensor, ocean engineering, and market-enabling technologies.

The purpose of this Teaming Partner List announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the potential NOFO. Any NOFO issued in the future would provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. If there are any inconsistencies between this announcement and the potential NOFO, the NOFO language would be controlling.

The anticipated goals of the program are:

• To reduce the cost of seaweed biomass cultivation by a factor of four when scaled, from the low thousands today to $120-275 per Dry Metric Ton (DMT, 10% moisture) depending on the cultivated species;
• To develop new, energy-centric, million-ton-scale markets in the United States; and
• To increase the scale of the U.S.-based seaweed cultivation industry by three orders of magnitude, from one thousand to one million tons per year wet harvest through these new markets.
  

The NOFO would focus on technology development in three categories to achieve these objectives:

1. Pioneering Smart Aqua Farms: New sensors and models to enable a complete, real-time, remote, and persistent understanding of farm state offshore. Parameters of interest include in-situ quantification of biomass growth rates and absolute quantities, nitrate and sugar content/type, biofouling and herbivory impacts, and structural loading. Such sensing capabilities will inform both dynamically updated structural and biological models that will curtail manual inspection, enable autonomy, enhance yield, enhance worker safety, and protect operational assets.
2. Creating Offshore Scale:
   1. Depth cycling: Hardware and control systems to enable the crop to periodically access optimal environments below nutriclines and thermoclines; and
   2. Dewatering: Methods of seaweed dewatering at sea to improve the economics of biomass transport and extend shelf life.
3. Enabling Megaton Markets:
   1. Biostimulant characterization: The discovery of biostimulant formulations and mechanisms, and investigation of their applicability to bioenergy row crops as a direct product line; and
   2. Other new and innovative approaches that harness the potential of a scaled seaweed production process to address U.S. energy needs.

Expertise in the following areas may be useful in responding to the potential NOFO:

• Deep water engineering, modeling, energy harvesting
• Automation and offshore robotic systems
• Seaweed cultivation, optimization, and processing
• Analytical biochemistry
• Biological/biochemical sensing
• Optical, electromagnetic, and acoustic sensing of biological phenomena
• Agricultural biochemistry
• Plant and microbial biology
• Uncrewed ocean surface vehicles and platforms
• Thermal and non-thermal water removal
• Technoeconomic and life-cycle analysis

ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to submit their information to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates the achievement of scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, teaming arrangements with researchers from the Republic of Korea may be strongly encouraged under this program.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting in December 2024. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically until the close of the Full Application period to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following form: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting your information to this Teaming Partner List, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to email addresses or by other means will not be considered. Participation in and utilization of this list is completely voluntary. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the Teaming Partner List and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the potential funding opportunity.

This list does not constitute a NOFO. A NOFO does not exist at this time. Applicants must refer to the NOFO, expected to be issued by December 2024, for instructions on applying and for details on how projects will be funded.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support the development of technologies aimed at accelerating genetic engineering for bioenergy crops. This potential NOFO would focus on bioenergy crops that significantly address ARPA-E mission areas, such as decreasing energy imports and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as strengthening U.S. leadership in developing and deploying energy technologies. The purpose of this Teaming Partner List announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the potential NOFO. Any NOFO issued in the future would provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. If there are any inconsistencies between this announcement and the potential NOFO, the NOFO language would be controlling.

The anticipated goals of the program include developing technologies to:

1. Accelerate the efficiency and rate of production of engineered plants;
2. Reduce the genotype dependence of genetic engineering techniques; and
3. Develop innovative biocontainment strategies for engineered plants.

Any NOFO issued in the future would be expected to support projects with a three-year performance period, transforming the genetic engineering of bioenergy crops from a resource-intensive craft into a routine procedure. The NOFO is expected to require that techniques be demonstrated in bioenergy crops and go beyond incremental improvements to transformation and tissue culture.

Expertise in the following areas may be useful in responding to the potential NOFO:

• Design of transformation vectors, including non-traditional vectors such as viruses, nanoparticles, and other modalities;
• Tissue-culture-free techniques for germline transformation, including meristem transformation and floral dip;
• Molecular tools for DNA modification, including but not limited to CRISPR systems, transposases, and recombinases;
• Developmental regulators/morphogenic genes;
• Plant genetics;
• Microbiology or pant-pathogen interactions;
• Synthetic biology and drug design, including techniques from mammalian systems that can be translated to bioenergy crops;
• Materials capable of targeted interactions with plant cells or nucleic acids;
• Mechanical and electrical engineering and robotics; and
• Computer science/machine learning/artificial intelligence/computer vision.

Successful teams are likely to include experts from several of these fields, including those who can leverage recent advances in biotechnology outside of the traditional plant sciences.

ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

The Teaming Partner List is being compiled to facilitate the formation of new project teams. The Teaming Partner List will be available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal, starting in December 2024. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically until the close of the Full Application period to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information.

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following form: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities.

By submitting your information to this Teaming Partner List, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to email addresses or by other means will not be considered. Participation in and utilization of this list is completely voluntary. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the Teaming Partner List and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the potential funding opportunity.

This list does not constitute a NOFO. A NOFO does not exist at this time. Applicants must refer to the NOFO, expected to be issued by January 2025, for instructions on applying and for details on how projects will be funded.