Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001948
This opportunity is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Request for Information (RFI) issued by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), specifically through the Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) on behalf of DOE's broader Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program. It is essentially a formal request for public input to help DOE understand where research, development, and related policy or administrative efforts should focus in order to reduce regulatory barriers that slow down or raise the cost of deploying hydrogen technologies, especially hydrogen infrastructure. The emphasis is on practical barriers that affect real-world buildout, such as permitting, compliance steps, codes and standards, and other legal or regulatory requirements that can complicate projects or make them more expensive than necessary.
The core purpose of the RFI is threefold: first, to better understand how existing regulations affect industry, particularly companies and organizations trying to build or operate hydrogen infrastructure; second, to identify specific federal regulations, codes, and state or local laws that create hurdles, along with an understanding of what it costs (in time, money, and administrative effort) to comply with them; and third, to gather recommendations for actions that could reduce the burden of these requirements without compromising safety or other public objectives. DOE is looking for grounded, specific feedback that can translate into clearer priorities for future work, including potential research and development directions as well as possible program actions that make deployment easier.
While hydrogen fueling stations for transportation are an explicit near-term focus, DOE is also soliciting input for large-scale hydrogen deployment scenarios beyond passenger vehicles. That includes uses like energy storage, providing grid services, transporting hydrogen at scale, blending hydrogen into natural gas systems, and other end uses that involve significant infrastructure. In other words, the RFI is not limited to retail fueling; it also covers the broader "H2 at scale" vision where hydrogen supports multiple sectors and interacts with electric and gas systems in more complex ways.
FCTO specifically asks for feedback across several topic areas: infrastructure for near-term transportation applications (such as steps needed to streamline private-sector rollout of hydrogen fueling stations), large-scale applications, large-scale hydrogen delivery and storage, and grid support under the H2@Scale concept. The RFI also invites ideas connected to these issues that could be suitable for future prize competitions, suggesting DOE is open to nontraditional mechanisms (like challenges or prizes) as a way to spur solutions to deployment bottlenecks.
A key point is that this is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and DOE is not accepting grant applications through this notice. There is no funding attached to responding, and there is no guarantee DOE will issue a future FOA based on what it learns here. Responding does not give any competitive advantage or disadvantage if DOE later releases a funding solicitation related to the same subject. The RFI is mainly a planning tool: DOE will use responses on a non-attribution basis to shape strategy, priorities, and potentially the structure of future programs or solicitations.
The administrative details are straightforward. Responses had to be submitted electronically by 5:00 pm Eastern Time on August 10, 2018, via email to FY18FCTOBARRIERSRFI@EE.DOE.GOV, with responses attached as Microsoft Word (.docx) files using 12-point font and 1-inch margins. Larger files over 25 MB were recommended to be compressed to ensure delivery. Respondents could answer as many or as few of the specific questions listed in the full RFI as they wanted, and DOE noted it would not reimburse any costs associated with preparing responses, nor was it obligated to confirm receipt or provide feedback.
In terms of who could respond, the RFI was effectively open (unrestricted eligibility), meaning input could come from industry, trade associations, state and local governments, utilities, standards bodies, researchers, non-profits, or other stakeholders with relevant experience. DOE also warned respondents not to include proprietary or confidential business information, because responses might be used to shape public-facing programs and could potentially become public; if a respondent chose to include sensitive information anyway, it needed to be clearly marked.
Finally, the listing includes standard federal opportunity metadata such as the opportunity number (DE FOA 0001948), the associated agency office (DOE Golden Field Office), the activity category (Energy), and CFDA number 81.087. Even though the system metadata references cooperative agreements, the practical reality for this notice is that it functions as an information-gathering step rather than a grant competition, with the primary outcome being DOE's improved understanding of regulatory and code-related barriers and actionable ways to reduce them to accelerate hydrogen infrastructure deployment.Apply for DE FOA 0001948
- The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Request for Information (RFI): Identifying Priorities for Reducing Barriers to Deployment of Hydrogen Infrastructure" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
- This funding opportunity was created on Jun 15, 2018.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 10, 2018 Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to FY18FCTOBARRIERSRFI@EE.DOE.GOV no later than 500pm (ET) on August 10, 2018. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. Only electronic responses will be accepted.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2.00 in funding.
- Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is this opportunity?
This notice is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Request for Information (RFI) issued by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) through the Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO), on behalf of DOE's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program. It is a formal request for public input about regulatory, permitting, codes, standards, and compliance barriers affecting hydrogen technology deployment, especially hydrogen infrastructure.
Is this a grant or funding opportunity?
No. This is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) and DOE is not accepting grant applications under this notice. There is no funding attached to submitting an RFI response.
What is DOE trying to learn from this RFI?
DOE described three main goals: (1) understand how existing regulations affect organizations trying to build or operate hydrogen infrastructure; (2) identify specific federal regulations, codes, and state/local laws that create hurdles and quantify the burden of compliance (time, cost, and administrative effort); and (3) collect recommendations for actions that could reduce burdens without compromising safety or other public objectives.
What kinds of barriers does DOE want feedback on?
DOE emphasized practical, real-world barriers that slow deployment or increase costs, including permitting processes, compliance steps, codes and standards, and other legal or regulatory requirements that complicate projects or make them more expensive than necessary.
What hydrogen applications are in scope?
The RFI includes hydrogen fueling stations for transportation as an explicit near-term focus, but it also seeks input for large-scale hydrogen deployment beyond passenger vehicles. Examples mentioned include energy storage, grid services, transporting hydrogen at scale, blending hydrogen into natural gas systems, and other end uses involving significant infrastructure.
Is the RFI limited to retail hydrogen fueling stations?
No. While transportation fueling infrastructure is a near-term emphasis, DOE also seeks feedback on broader "H2 at scale" deployment scenarios where hydrogen supports multiple sectors and interacts with electric and gas systems.
What topic areas did FCTO specifically request input on?
FCTO asked for feedback across several topic areas, including: infrastructure for near-term transportation applications (such as streamlining private-sector rollout of hydrogen fueling stations), large-scale applications, large-scale hydrogen delivery and storage, and grid support under the H2@Scale concept.
Does DOE want recommendations for solutions or just a description of problems?
DOE requested grounded, specific feedback that can translate into clearer priorities for future work. That includes identifying the hurdles and providing recommendations for actions that could reduce regulatory burdens while maintaining safety and other public objectives.
Does DOE want information about the cost of compliance?
Yes. DOE specifically indicated interest in understanding what it costs (time, money, and administrative effort) to comply with regulations, codes, and state/local legal requirements that affect hydrogen infrastructure projects.
Can a response focus on only some of the questions in the full RFI?
Yes. Respondents were allowed to answer as many or as few of the specific questions listed in the full RFI as they wanted.
Who was eligible to respond to the RFI?
Eligibility was effectively open (unrestricted). DOE indicated that input could come from industry, trade associations, state and local governments, utilities, standards bodies, researchers, non-profits, and other stakeholders with relevant experience.
How was DOE planning to use the responses?
DOE stated that the RFI is a planning tool. Responses were intended to help shape DOE strategy and priorities and potentially inform the structure of future programs or solicitations. DOE noted responses would be used on a non-attribution basis.
Does responding provide any advantage in a future funding competition?
No. DOE stated that responding does not provide any competitive advantage or disadvantage if DOE later releases a funding solicitation related to the same subject.
Does DOE guarantee a future FOA or funding opportunity will be issued based on this RFI?
No. DOE stated there is no guarantee that it will issue a future FOA based on what it learns through this RFI.
Were respondents reimbursed for the cost of preparing an RFI submission?
No. DOE stated it would not reimburse any costs associated with preparing responses.
Was DOE required to confirm receipt or provide feedback on submissions?
No. DOE noted it was not obligated to confirm receipt of responses or provide feedback to respondents.
How and where were responses submitted?
Responses had to be submitted electronically by email to FY18FCTOBARRIERSRFI@EE.DOE.GOV.
What was the submission deadline?
The deadline for electronic submission was 5:00 pm Eastern Time on August 10, 2018.
What file format and formatting requirements applied to submissions?
DOE requested responses as Microsoft Word (.docx) attachments using 12-point font and 1-inch margins.
What if the response file was large?
DOE recommended compressing files larger than 25 MB to help ensure successful email delivery.
Could respondents include proprietary or confidential business information?
DOE warned respondents not to include proprietary or confidential business information because responses might be used to shape public-facing programs and could potentially become public. If a respondent chose to include sensitive information anyway, it needed to be clearly marked.
What is the opportunity number associated with this RFI?
The opportunity number listed for this notice is DE FOA 0001948.
Which DOE office is associated with the opportunity listing?
The listing references the DOE Golden Field Office as the associated agency office.
What is the activity category and CFDA number listed?
The activity category is Energy, and the CFDA number listed is 81.087.
Why does the listing metadata mention cooperative agreements if this is an RFI?
The listing includes standard federal opportunity metadata (including references to cooperative agreements), but DOE described this notice as an information-gathering step rather than a grant competition. The primary outcome is DOE's improved understanding of barriers and actionable ways to reduce them.
Does DOE only want regulatory and legal feedback, or also ideas for other mechanisms?
In addition to regulatory and code-related barriers, the RFI invited ideas that could be suitable for future prize competitions, indicating DOE was open to challenge or prize-based approaches to spur solutions to deployment bottlenecks.
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| Funding Opportunity |
|---|
| Notice of Intent: Energy-Water Desalination Hub Apply for DE FOA 0001949 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001949 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Zonal Isolation for Manmade Geothermal Reservoirs Apply for DE FOA 0001945 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001945 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: $2,000,000 |
| Notice of Intent to Issue DE-FOA-0001836: “Innovative Design Concepts for Standard Modular Hydropower and Pumped Storage Hydropower” Apply for DE FOA 0001950 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001950 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Notice of Intent to Issue DE-FOA-0001924: Advanced Wind R&D to Reduce Costs and Improve Environmental Performance Apply for DE FOA 0001935 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001935 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Advanced Wind R&D to Reduce Costs and Environmental Impacts Apply for DE FOA 0001924 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001924 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: $1,000,000 |
| Machine Learning for Geothermal Energy Apply for DE FOA 0001956 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001956 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: $700,000 |
| DE-FOA-0001967 Apply for DE FOA 0001967 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001967 Agency: Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory Category: Energy Funding Amount: $1,000 |
| RFI: National Wind Technology Center Facility and Infrastructure Investments Apply for DE FOA 0001959 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001959 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| ULTRA LOW COST THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM USING REVERSE OSMOSIS CONCENTRATE Apply for BOR MP 18 N028 Funding Number: BOR MP 18 N028 Agency: Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation Category: Energy Funding Amount: $65,778 |
| Request for Information (RFI) on H2@Scale (Hydrogen at Scale): Determining Opportunities to Facilitate Wide-Scale Hydrogen Adoption for Energy Security and Economic Growth Apply for DE FOA 0001965 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001965 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Request for Information (RFI): Understanding Catalyst Production and Development Needs at National Laboratories Apply for DE FOA 0001951 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001951 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Innovative Design Concepts for Standard Modular Hydropower and Pumped-Storage Hydropower Apply for DE FOA 0001836 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001836 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: $1,250,000 |
| Advanced Solar Systems Integration Technologies Notice of Intent (NOI) Apply for DE FOA 0001986 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001986 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Fiscal Year 2019 Consolidated Innovative Nuclear Research Apply for DE FOA 0001913 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001913 Agency: Department of Energy, Idaho Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: $1,000,000 |
| Scientific Infrastructure Support for Consolidated Apply for DE FOA 0001914 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001914 Agency: Department of Energy, Idaho Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: $2,500,000 |
| Advanced Systems Integration for Solar Technologies Apply for DE FOA 0001987 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001987 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Transformational Sensing Capabilities for Monitoring the Subsurface Apply for DE FOA 0001998 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001998 Agency: Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| NOI to issue DE-FOA-0002005, entitled: Advanced Operations and Sensing Technologies to Improve Efficiency and Capabilities for EOR in Deepwater Offshore Wells. Apply for DE FOA 0002011 Funding Number: DE FOA 0002011 Agency: Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Energy and Mineral Development Program Apply for BIA FA TEDC 0008 Funding Number: BIA FA TEDC 0008 Agency: Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Notice of Intent to Issue DE-FOA-0001981: Advanced Next-Generation High-Efficiency Lightweight Wind Turbine Generator Apply for DE FOA 0001938 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001938 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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