DE FOA 0001310 NEXT GENERATION MARINE ENERGY SYSTEMS DURABILITY AND SURVIVABILITY | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

DE-FOA-0001310, titled "Next Generation Marine Energy Systems - Durability and Survivability," is a U.S. Department of Energy funding opportunity (managed through the Golden Field Office) aimed at improving the robustness of innovative marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) energy technologies. The core idea is to tackle durability, reliability, and survivability issues early, while designs are still evolving, so developers can avoid expensive redesign cycles and catastrophic failures that often show up later when devices are built and tested at larger, more costly scales. The FOA is framed around the practical reality that uncertainty about how systems will perform in harsh marine environments pushes designers toward conservative, heavy, and expensive solutions, and it can also lead to premature operational failures. By reducing that uncertainty, the program is intended to improve overall cost and performance metrics, specifically initial capital costs (ICC), operational expenditures (OPEX), device availability, and system life.

The opportunity is structured to fund projects that generate credible evidence about how next-generation MHK systems hold up under real-world stressors such as extreme loads, fatigue, corrosion, and complex hydrodynamic conditions. It emphasizes not only achieving high performance potential, but doing so in a way that can survive the operating environment long enough to be commercially meaningful. In practical terms, the DOE is looking for designs, testing approaches, and operational strategies that either prevent failures, delay them significantly, or make failures easier to predict and manage. The broader purpose is to move the industry toward designs that are both high-performing and realistically operable, instead of prototypes that look promising on paper but become too costly or fragile once deployed.

Two topic areas define the kinds of projects DOE wants to support. Topic Area 1 focuses on earlier-stage or less mature concepts where the main goals are to reduce ICC or extend system life by improving system designs and clearly defining the conditions needed for survival. Under this topic, applicants are expected to establish and validate survival conditions through testing of model-scale prototypes in a controlled laboratory setting. This points to work like scaled tank testing, controlled load and fatigue experiments, and other laboratory validations that can build confidence in a design before the program moves toward bigger, more expensive prototypes and field demonstrations. The underlying theme is de-risking: making sure developers understand what the device must withstand and showing, with data, that the design can meet those requirements.

Topic Area 2 is geared toward more mature systems that are ready to be tested as fully integrated systems. Here, the emphasis shifts toward reducing ICC, reducing OPEX, or increasing availability by developing better approaches to installation, operations, and maintenance. This reflects the reality that even if the energy-conversion technology works, the cost of getting equipment into the water, servicing it, and keeping downtime low can determine whether the technology is viable. Projects under Topic Area 2 are expected to use instrumentation and monitoring of prototypes to identify what fails, how failures initiate, and how they progress over time. That kind of failure-forensics and condition-monitoring focus is meant to produce actionable insights that reduce the frequency and severity of outages, shorten repair cycles, and improve maintenance planning, all of which can materially improve lifetime cost.

Administratively, the FOA is a discretionary funding opportunity using cooperative agreements, meaning DOE expects substantial involvement during the project rather than a hands-off grant structure. The total estimated funding amount listed is $10.5 million, with an expectation of about six awards. Individual awards are expected to fall between $400,000 (floor) and $4,150,000 (ceiling). A cost share or matching requirement applies, so recipients should plan to contribute a portion of total project costs consistent with the FOA terms. The opportunity is associated with CFDA number 81.087 (Renewable Energy Research and Development), and eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning it is generally open to a wide range of entity types, subject to any specific clarifications in the full FOA text.

A key update to the announcement is the posted modification stating that a Data Management Plan has been added to the Full Application Content Requirements table (noted as being on page 26 of the FOA). That change matters because it signals DOE expects applicants to describe how project data will be handled, stored, shared, and preserved. In competitive DOE funding, a Data Management Plan can affect compliance, reporting expectations, and how results can be used by DOE or the broader community, so applicants need to account for it as a required component of the full application package.

All application activity is handled through the EERE Exchange portal, and submissions must be made through that system to be considered. Applicants must register and create an account in EERE Exchange before submitting. The original closing date was July 1, 2015, and the current closing date listed is July 15, 2015, reflecting an extension. The FOA was posted April 27, 2015, and is archived as of December 31, 2015. For practical navigation and submission mechanics, DOE points applicants to the EERE Exchange User Guide available on the site. Questions about accessing the announcement or technical issues with the portal are directed to the EERE Exchange Helpdesk at EERE.ExchangeSupport@hq.doe.gov, while FOA-content and submission questions are addressed as described in the full FOA posting on EERE Exchange.

Browse more opportunities from the same agency: Golden Field Office

Browse more opportunities from the same category: Energy Regional Development

Next opportunity: Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Californian CESU

Previous opportunity: Dissemination of Evidence Informed Interventions to Improve Health Outcomes along the HIV Care Continuum Dissemination and Evaluation Center

USGrants.org Applicant Portal:

Are you interested in learning about about how to apply for this government funding opportunity? You can create a free applicant account and receive instant access to our applicant portal that many business owners like you have benefited from.

Apply for DE FOA 0001310

 

[Watch] how do funding administrators access proposals?

 

Grant application guides and resources

It is always free to apply for government grants. However the process may be very complex depending on the funding opportunity you are applying for. Let us help you!

Apply for Grants

 

 

Premium leads for funding administrators, grant writers, and loan issuers

Thousands of people visit our website for their funding needs every day. When a user creates a grant proposal and files for submission, we pass the information on to funding administrators, grant writers, and government loan issuers.

If you manage government grant programs, provide grant writing services, or issue personal or government loans, we can help you reach your audience.

Subscribe to Leads

 

Request more information:

Would you like to learn more about this funding opportunity, similar opportunities to "DE FOA 0001310", eligibility, application service, and/or application tips? Submit an inquiry below:

Don't forget to subscribe to our grant alerts mailing list to receive weekly alerts on new and updated grant funding opportunities like this one in your email.