U.S. Department of Energy reopens $15-MM voucher program for clean energy technology
- The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions, in collaboration with the Offices of Clean Energy Demonstrations, Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced the reopening of five voucher opportunities to accelerate clean energy technology adoption and launch two new VOs with $15 MM in available funding.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), in collaboration with the Offices of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), today announced the reopening of five voucher opportunities (VOs) to accelerate clean energy technology adoption and launch two new VOs with $15 million in available funding to support manufacturers via the Voucher Program.
Since the program's launch in July of 2023, the DOE has supported 111 entities with nearly $10 MM in federal funding to address adoption risks and advance clean energy technology commercialization. These in-kind resources are provided by 33 supporting organizations, including six National Labs, in the form of DOE-funded vouchers. The program connects technology companies, jurisdictions, and manufacturers with third-party validation (subject matter expertise and testing capabilities) to advance their technologies, businesses, or energy projects to the next level.
The current submission window is open for all seven VOs to entities interested in providing voucher support through July 9 at 3 PM EST. A second submission window for potential recipients is set to open later this summer. The seven open opportunities of in-kind support serve varied commercialization needs and technology areas:
- VO-1 Pre-Demonstration Commercialization Support (OCED): addresses key adoption risk areas faced by companies leaving the research and development stage. This support includes bankability studies, quality assurance/control analysis, manufacturing or supply chain assessments, community benefits assessments, internal cybersecurity best practices, and other technoeconomic analyses. Voucher provider submissions are open but not limited to independent engineering firms, consultancies, and National Labs.
- VO-2 Performance Validation, Modeling, and Certification Support (OCED): enables third-party evaluation of technology performance, modeling resources, and attainment of certifications. This includes testing in real-world environments, industry-relevant certifications, system performance modeling, digital twin development, support to obtain relevant environmental and technology specific site certifications, and more. Voucher provider submissions are open but not limited to independent engineering firms, consultancies, testing/validation centers, and National Labs.
- VO-3 Clean Energy Demonstration Project Siting/Permitting Support (OCED/EERE): helps authorities having jurisdiction like city or tribal governments and related institutions (including but not limited to first responders, utilities, and transportation authorities) understand new clean energy technology benefits and challenges, evaluate siting and permitting best practices developed by similar jurisdictions, develop streamlined permitting processes, and support community engagement on related issues. Voucher provider submissions are open but not limited to non-profit organizations and consulting firms.
- VO-4 Commercialization Support (EERE): addresses key adoption risk areas faced by companies in the research and development stage. The support includes market analysis/research, patent landscape analysis, business plan development, fundraising road-mapping (from both public and private sources), and other commercialization strategy assistance. Voucher providers submissions are open but not limited to independent engineering firms, consultancies, and National Labs.
- VO-5 Commercialization Support (FECM): addresses key adoption risk areas faced by carbon management and resource sustainability innovators and technology developers, including for-profit firms, that are working to commercialize a prototype. The support includes life cycle analysis, technoeconomic assessment, independent assessment and validation of monitoring reporting and verification technologies/practices, and performance validation support. Voucher provider submissions are open but not limited to independent engineering firms, consultancies, and National Labs.
- VO-9 Planning and Validation of Industrial Decarbonization Projects (OCED): addresses key adoption risk areas faced by industrial facilities interested in decarbonizing their operations and commercialization hurdles faced by industrial decarbonization technology developers. Examples of support includes but is not limited to assessment and validation of current emissions, assessment of opportunities for decarbonization, planning for execution decarbonization projects, and performance validation support for industrial decarbonization technology developers. Voucher provider submissions are open but not limited to independent engineering firms, consultancies, and National Labs.
- VO-10 Manufacturing Conversion, Retooling, and Retrofitting Support (OCED): addresses key adoption risk areas related to domestic supply chain availability and is meant to broaden the ecosystem of clean energy manufacturers through support such as feasibility studies to convert existing production lines including, but not limited to, engineering studies, equipment and process reviews; and staff qualifications and workforce needs assessments. Voucher provider submissions are open but not limited to independent engineering firms, consultancies, and National Labs.
The Voucher Program is funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act as part of the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) and leverages DOE’s partnership intermediary agreement with Energywerx.
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