The Department of Energy's New Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute

On Thursday, June 23, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $70 million in federal funding to establish a new Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute charged with reducing emissions across the industrial sector. The new institute will pursue targeted research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) focused on developing and scaling electrified processes that economically reduce emissions, improve flexibility, and enhance energy efficiency of industrial process heating.

DOE invites our stakeholders to:

o  Review the press release for this announcement as well as the funding opportunity landing page and the full funding opportunity document.

o  Attend the informational webinar on July 14^th , 2022 if you have further questions and/or are interested in applying.

o  Apply for funding by submitting a concept paper by August 9^th, 2022.

o  Share the opportunity with your networks using the sample email and social media language below.

• This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) aims to create a new Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute that will establish an innovative ecosystem to accelerate the development, scale-up, and demonstration of technologies that enable electrified processes to be one of the economically viable pathways for industrial decarbonization.
• The proposed institute will pursue targeted research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) that will focus on developing and scaling electrified processes that can economically reduce emissions, improve flexibility, and enhance energy efficiency of industrial process heating. In addition, DOE’s newest institute aims to catalyze technology transfer and prepares the present and future manufacturing workforce for novel uses of electrified industrial heating.
• Process heating is essential to the manufacturing of a wide variety of industrial and consumer products, supplying the thermal energy needed to transform materials through processes such as drying, curing, forming, calcining, and smelting. However, process heating currently consumes more energy than any other end use in the manufacturing sector. Electrifying industrial heating processes will require addressing numerous technical challenges to become technically and economically feasible. This institute will advance the Biden Administration’s goals to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and to position the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by 2050.

In negotiation with DOE, this institute will be expected to achieve metrics that both reflect the priorities and objectives of DOE as well as the intention and requirements for ManufacturingUSA™ institutes. Interested applicants should propose quantitative metrics that are ambitious but reasonably attainable through institute efforts.

EERE is compiling a Teaming Partner List to facilitate the widest possible national participation in the formation of the institute for this FOA. All entities planning to apply as a prime applicant or entities interested in participating as part of an applicant team are strongly encouraged to provide their contact information for the Teaming Partner List. The list allows organizations to express their interest in this FOA and to explore potential partners.

For a full list of quantitative and qualitative metrics, please review the public funding opportunity document.

FOA Background

• The use of advanced manufacturing processes like electrification to replace conventional, bulk heating with more direct energy application can decarbonize process heating while in many cases reducing the overall energy demand and associated losses.
• Decarbonizing the manufacturing sector will require a competitive portfolio of low- and zero-carbon process heating solutions to allow individual plants to determine the option best suited to their needs, weighing application, economics, geography, and other factors.
• This new institute will be a member of the ManufacturingUSA™ network, supporting the government-wide approach to the climate crisis.

Key Stakeholder Information

Office: The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO)

FOA Number: DE-FOA-0002737

Link to apply: Click here

Key Dates

Additional Information

• Download the full funding opportunity here.
  
• If you have any further questions about this FOA opportunity and how to apply, please contact [email protected]. If you have questions about promoting and/or sharing this FOA with your network, please contact [email protected].
  
• Sign up for the Office ofEnergy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)email list to get notified of new EERE funding opportunities. Also sign up for our newsletter to stay current with the latest AMO news.