The Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy (ARPA-E) intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the development of hybrid fuel cell and engine systems for the ultra-high efficiency conversion of natural gas to electricity. The objective of this FOA will be to encourage the development of commercial-scale (>100 kW) Distributed Generation (DG) systems that have fuel to electric power conversion efficiencies in excess of 70% on a Lower Heating Value (LHV) basis. ARPA-E anticipates that the deadline for submission of Concept Papers to this FOA will occur 30 days after its issuance.
The long-term goal of the program will be to reduce the cost and increase the primary energy efficiency associated with the provision of electric power to commercial and industrial customers. The achievement of the aggressive efficiency (>70%) and installed cost (<$1800/kW) goals required to enable a targeted >1 Quad/year of fuel energy savings will require the development of new component technologies and systems approaches for the integration of fuel cells with heat or reactive engines.
As described in more detail below, the purpose of this announcement is to facilitate the formation of new project teams to respond to the upcoming FOA. The FOA will provide specific program goals, technical metrics, selection criteria, and other terms and requirements. However, for purposes of the Teaming Partner List, a summary of the currently anticipated scope is provided below.
The primary focus of the FOA will be the development of enabling component and sub-system technologies pertinent to the fuel cell or the engine or both of the sub-systems. Such technologies may include (but are not limited to) novel fuel cell stack designs, cost-effective and high efficiency engine/turbine component designs, highly integrated balance of plant designs, and demonstrations of system controls. If the development of these technologies proceeds at the desired rate, ARPA-E may also continue support through full-scale (≥ 100 kW) hybrid system development.
In order to realize the program goals, ARPA‐E aims to bring together diverse engineering and scientific communities, including researchers in the fields of electrochemistry, mechanical/thermal systems design and modeling, and systems integration and controls so that they can model, design, develop, and demonstrate the required component and system performances and engage the stakeholders required to introduce the new hybrid systems technologies into the marketplace.
As a general matter, ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form 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 May 26, 2017. 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 link: 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 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 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 to other email addresses or by other means will not be considered.
This Notice does not constitute a FOA. No FOA exists at this time. Applicants must refer to the final FOA, expected to be issued in June 2017, for instructions on submitting an application and for the terms and conditions of funding.