Department of Energy’s OCED Grant for Large-Scale Carbon Capture Pilot Projects

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), in collaboration with the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for Carbon Capture Large-Scale Pilot Projects. Awards made under this FOA will be funded with funds appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

Since DOE-FECM R&D efforts for carbon capture technologies began in the early 2000s, improvements in energy and process efficiencies have led to a reduction in both capital and operating costs. Supporting carbon capture large-scale pilot projects under field settings before advancing to commercial-scale demonstration and deployment will benefit entities intending to commercialize and deploy integrated CCS projects. Successful execution of these pilots can help to accelerate CCS deployment to achieve our climate goals while achieving other societal objectives. Also, this FOA further allows development of these technologies in different industrial and hard to decarbonize sectors.

Carbon capture large-scale pilot projects will provide the support needed to test novel technologies at intermediate scale and under relevant conditions in both the power and industrial sector to:

1. De-risk transformational carbon capture technologies and address community concerns through meaningful engagement and robust analysis of impacts, risks and benefits such as emissions, water usage, and jobs; and
2. Catalyze significant follow-on investments from the private sector for first-of-a-kind (FOAK) commercial-scale demonstrations on carbon emission sources across the power and industrial sectors.

Through this FOA, DOE makes available up to $820 million of federal funding at a maximum of 70% federal cost share for up to ten (10) carbon capture large-scale pilot projects designed to further the development of transformational technologies that capture carbon emissions from existing coal or natural gas electric generation facilities and existing industrial facilities not purposed for electric generation.

These carbon capture large-scale pilot projects must be integrated with commercial plant operations and conducted in the United States. DOE may issue additional carbon capture large-scale pilot FOAs in the future. Using multiple FOAs can help enable the validation of transformational carbon capture technologies with different maturation timelines in a large-scale pilot project once they reach the appropriate technology readiness level.

Pursuant to section 962(a)(1) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 as amended (42 U.S.C. § 16292(a)(1)), the term “large-scale pilot project” means a pilot project that:

(A) represents the scale of technology development beyond laboratory development and bench scale testing, but not yet advanced to the point of being tested under real operational conditions at commercial scale;
(B) represents the scale of technology necessary to gain the operational data needed to understand the technical and performance risks of the technology before the application of that technology at commercial scale or in commercial-scale demonstration; and
(C) is large enough-
(i) to validate scaling factors; and
(ii) to demonstrate the interaction between major components so that control philosophies for a new process can be developed and enable the technology to advance from large-scale pilot project application to commercial-scale demonstration or application.

The carbon capture large-scale pilot projects funded under this FOA will generate operational data for verification and validation of the commercial potential of innovative technologies, including data on technology performance, non-CO2 air emissions, process models, life cycle impacts, costs, scaling factors, and community benefits or negative impacts of carbon capture technologies. These pilots will help mitigate risks and aid in commercial adoption as learnings obtained from these pilots are expected to inform subsequent large-scale demonstration or commercial deployment plans.

For further information, please see the Full Funding Opportunity Announcement at https://oced-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaIdd3200aa3-9f64-4388-aa2c-c90dfd5f991f. All application materials must be submitted through the OCED Funding Opportunity Exchange.

NOTE: Applicants must submit an eligible Concept Paper to be eligible to submit a Full Application.

ATTENTION (5/18/2023): This Funding Opportunity Announcement has been modified. Submission Deadline for Full Applications has been extended to 5:00 pm ET on 7/7/2023. Please see the “DE-FOA-0002963 Full Funding Opportunity Announcement – Mod 000002” document in the Announcement Documents section of the FOA on OCED Exchange at https://oced-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaIdd3200aa3-9f64-4388-aa2c-c90dfd5f991f for full details.

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), in collaboration with the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), is issuing this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for Carbon Capture Large-Scale Pilot Projects. Awards made under this FOA will be funded with funds appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Since DOE-FECM R&D efforts for carbon capture technologies began in the early 2000s, improvements in energy and process efficiencies have led to a reduction in both capital and operating costs. Supporting carbon capture large-scale pilot projects under field settings before advancing to commercial-scale demonstration and deployment will benefit entities intending to commercialize and deploy integrated CCS projects. Successful execution of these pilots can help to accelerate CCS deployment to achieve our climate goals while achieving other societal objectives. Also, this FOA further allows development of these technologies in different industrial and hard to decarbonize sectors. Carbon capture large-scale pilot projects will provide the support needed to test novel technologies at intermediate scale and under relevant conditions in both the power and industrial sector to:1. De-risk transformational carbon capture technologies and address community concerns through meaningful engagement and robust analysis of impacts, risks and benefits such as emissions, water usage, and jobs; and 2. Catalyze significant follow-on investments from the private sector for first-of-a-kind (FOAK) commercial-scale demonstrations on carbon emission sources across the power and industrial sectors. Through this FOA, DOE makes available up to $820 million of federal funding at a maximum of 70% federal cost share for up to ten (10) carbon capture large-scale pilot projects designed to further the development of transformational technologies that capture carbon emissions from existing coal or natural gas electric generation facilities and existing industrial facilities not purposed for electric generation. These carbon capture large-scale pilot projects must be integrated with commercial plant operations and conducted in the United States. DOE may issue additional carbon capture large-scale pilot FOAs in the future. Using multiple FOAs can help enable the validation of transformational carbon capture technologies with different maturation timelines in a large-scale pilot project once they reach the appropriate technology readiness level.Pursuant to section 962(a)(1) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 as amended (42 U.S.C. § 16292(a)(1)), the term “large-scale pilot project” means a pilot project that:(A) represents the scale of technology development beyond laboratory development and bench scale testing, but not yet advanced to the point of being tested under real operational conditions at commercial scale;(B) represents the scale of technology necessary to gain the operational data needed to understand the technical and performance risks of the technology before the application of that technology at commercial scale or in commercial-scale demonstration; and(C) is large enough-(i) to validate scaling factors; and(ii) to demonstrate the interaction between major components so that control philosophies for a new process can be developed and enable the technology to advance from large-scale pilot project application to commercial-scale demonstration or application.The carbon capture large-scale pilot projects funded under this FOA will generate operational data for verification and validation of the commercial potential of innovative technologies, including data on technology performance, non-CO2 air emissions, process models, life cycle impacts, costs, scaling factors, and community benefits or negative impacts of carbon capture technologies. These pilots will help mitigate risks and aid in commercial adoption as learnings obtained from these pilots are expected to inform subsequent large-scale demonstration or commercial deployment plans.For further information, please see the Full Funding Opportunity Announcement at https://oced-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx. All application materials must be submitted through the OCED Funding Opportunity Exchange.

Since DOE-FECM R&D efforts for carbon capture technologies began in the early 2000s, improvements in energy and process efficiencies have led to a reduction in both capital and operating costs. Supporting carbon capture large-scale pilot projects under field settings before advancing to commercial-scale demonstration and deployment will benefit entities intending to commercialize and deploy integrated CCS projects. Successful execution of these pilots can help to accelerate CCS deployment to achieve our climate goals while achieving other societal objectives. Also, this FOA further allows development of these technologies in different industrial and hard to decarbonize sectors.

Carbon capture large-scale pilot projects will provide the support needed to test novel technologies at intermediate scale and under relevant conditions in both the power and industrial sector to:

1. De-risk transformational carbon capture technologies and address community concerns through meaningful engagement and robust analysis of impacts, risks and benefits such as emissions, water usage, and jobs; and
2. Catalyze significant follow-on investments from the private sector for first-of-a-kind (FOAK) commercial-scale demonstrations on carbon emission sources across the power and industrial sectors.

Through this FOA, DOE makes available up to $820 million of federal funding at a maximum of 70% federal cost share for up to ten (10) carbon capture large-scale pilot projects designed to further the development of transformational technologies that capture carbon emissions from existing coal or natural gas electric generation facilities and existing industrial facilities not purposed for electric generation.

These carbon capture large-scale pilot projects must be integrated with commercial plant operations and conducted in the United States. DOE may issue additional carbon capture large-scale pilot FOAs in the future. Using multiple FOAs can help enable the validation of transformational carbon capture technologies with different maturation timelines in a large-scale pilot project once they reach the appropriate technology readiness level.

Pursuant to section 962(a)(1) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 as amended (42 U.S.C. § 16292(a)(1)), the term “large-scale pilot project” means a pilot project that:

(A) represents the scale of technology development beyond laboratory development and bench scale testing, but not yet advanced to the point of being tested under real operational conditions at commercial scale;
(B) represents the scale of technology necessary to gain the operational data needed to understand the technical and performance risks of the technology before the application of that technology at commercial scale or in commercial-scale demonstration; and
(C) is large enough-
(i) to validate scaling factors; and
(ii) to demonstrate the interaction between major components so that control philosophies for a new process can be developed and enable the technology to advance from large-scale pilot project application to commercial-scale demonstration or application.

The carbon capture large-scale pilot projects funded under this FOA will generate operational data for verification and validation of the commercial potential of innovative technologies, including data on technology performance, non-CO2 air emissions, process models, life cycle impacts, costs, scaling factors, and community benefits or negative impacts of carbon capture technologies. These pilots will help mitigate risks and aid in commercial adoption as learnings obtained from these pilots are expected to inform subsequent large-scale demonstration or commercial deployment plans.

For further information, please see the Full Funding Opportunity Announcement at https://oced-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx. All application materials must be submitted through the OCED Funding Opportunity Exchange.