High Energy Advanced Thermal Storage (HEATS) | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

High Energy Advanced Thermal Storage (HEATS) is an ARPA-E funding opportunity (FOA DE-FOA-0000471) aimed at pushing thermal energy storage beyond incremental improvements and toward genuinely high-impact, cost-effective technologies. The central idea is to support research and development that can store heat at high energy density and deliver it when needed, which can help with major energy challenges such as smoothing the variability of generation, improving overall system efficiency, and enabling new industrial or power-generation pathways. ARPA-E frames this as "revolutionary" thermal storage, signaling that it is looking for approaches that could materially change cost and performance rather than simply refine existing solutions.

The notice provided is a modification to the original FOA, and its main purpose is administrative clarity around disclosures and reporting of other funding. Specifically, it narrows the "Other Sources of Funding" requirement (referenced in Sections IV.C.1 and VI.B.9 of the FOA) so that the disclosure focus is on the individuals involved in the project, meaning Principal Investigators, Co-Principal Investigators, and Key Participants. In other words, the revision is meant to ensure that the government sees a clear picture of relevant outside support tied directly to the people driving the work, and it also clarifies what selected applicants must disclose once they are invited into award negotiations. This kind of change typically matters because ARPA-E wants transparency about overlapping support, commitments, and potential conflicts that might affect execution, availability of personnel, or duplication of funding.

The application process described includes a Concept Paper stage used as an early filter to save applicants from spending significant time and money on a full proposal that is unlikely to move forward. After concept papers are reviewed, ARPA-E may encourage some teams to submit full applications and discourage others. Importantly, being discouraged does not bar submission: applicants may still submit a full application even if they received a discouragement notice. ARPA-E explains that discouragement is intended to communicate a lack of programmatic interest rather than to make a definitive statement about technical merit, and that the concept paper phase is primarily a time-and-cost-saving mechanism for applicants.

For timing, the modification highlights that the full application deadline is Monday, July 18, 2011 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. ARPA-E also strongly encourages applicants to submit full applications and replies to reviewer comments at least 24 hours before the deadline to reduce last-minute submission risks. The original closing date was May 19, 2011, but the updated closing date for this action is July 18, 2011, reflecting the FOA timeline as modified.

In terms of award structure and scale, this opportunity is offered as a discretionary federal assistance program using cooperative agreements, which generally implies substantial federal involvement during project execution compared with a standard grant. ARPA-E anticipated making about 20 awards under this FOA, with an estimated total funding amount of $30,000,000. Individual awards were expected to range from a $250,000 floor up to a $10,000,000 ceiling, indicating support for both smaller early-stage efforts and larger, more integrated development and demonstration style projects. The FOA also includes a cost-sharing or matching requirement, meaning recipients would need to contribute some non-federal share according to the terms laid out in the announcement.

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning ARPA-E was broadly open to proposals from many types of entities (for example, companies, universities, nonprofits, and other organizations), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications contained in the full FOA text. The listing associates the opportunity with CFDA number 81.135 (Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy), under the science and technology and other research and development activity category.

For logistics and support, applicants are directed to the ARPA-E FOA site (ARPA-E eXCHANGE) for the full announcement, attachments, and instructions. Questions had to be submitted by email to ARPA-E at ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov, with the important constraint that ARPA-E would stop accepting questions 96 hours before the relevant deadline. Responses to questions were posted publicly in ARPA-E's Frequently Asked Questions area, which is a standard approach intended to ensure that all applicants have access to the same clarifications. For technical trouble accessing the announcement, the contact listed is John T. Harris, Contract Specialist, with phone number 202-287-1055 and email john.harris@hq.doe.gov.

Overall, HEATS is positioned as an ARPA-E effort to catalyze high-risk, high-reward thermal storage innovations with meaningful cost and performance advantages, using a staged application process (concept paper to full application) and a cooperative agreement structure. The modification emphasized in the notice does not change the core technical ambition of the program so much as it tightens and clarifies what funding disclosures must be provided by key project personnel and what selected applicants must disclose during the negotiation phase.

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