Voucher Opportunity 1 - Pre-Demonstration Commercialization Support (Recipients) - Round 3

Are you a company (for-profit entity) moving on from the research and development stage and ready to enter the market or demonstrate your technology at scale? This opportunity is designed to provide support for studies and analyses you need to accelerate the commercialization of your advanced energy technology and prepare it for the market or for integration into a large-scale demonstration project.  

As part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Technology Commercialization Fund, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC), and Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), in collaboration with EnergyWerx, are offering this Pre-Demonstration Commercialization Support Voucher Opportunity (VO-1) to eligible companies to increase commercial readiness (with a focus on value proposition and market acceptance) of advanced energy technologies.

View the Pre-Approved Voucher Providers: Click Here to View

Complete the Recipient Submission Form: Click Here to Submit for VO-1

The relaunched DOE Voucher Program builds bridges between U.S. entrepreneurs, businesses, technology developers, or other relevant partners and third-party voucher providers to advance commercialization of innovative energy technologies. VO-1 addresses key adoption risk areas faced by companies ready to advance past the research and development stage. VO-1 is intended to provide support for technologies that are nearly ready for pilot-scale, large-scale demonstration, or commercialization.

DOE has selected and pre-approved a cohort of Voucher Providers offering a variety of capabilities you might be interested in:  Click Here to View the Pre-Approved Voucher Providers.

For this Voucher Opportunity, capabilities include:

• Bankability studies (including insurability evaluation)
• Manufacturing/supply chain assessments
• Techno-economic analyses
• Market readiness analyses
• Quality assurance/control (QA/QC) analysis and documentation systems
• Accounting systems support to ensure compliance with industry-standard practices accepted by investors and lenders
• Internal cybersecurity best practices improvements for new energy infrastructure facility owners and operators (to NOT include grid operators).  

When you apply, you will review the available capabilities and submit your preferences in the Voucher Recipient request form. If you find something that can be valuable to your company and that can enable your company to accelerate demonstration, commercialization, and deployment of your product, please consider applying to receive that in-kind support.

Note: The full list of pre-approved Voucher Provider capabilities is available here. Please carefully read through the descriptions, deliverables, required inputs, applicable technology area(s), and other related information for each capability. DOE will not allow changes to the high-level scope of work defined in the Voucher Provider’s capability submission.

Voucher Projects: Vouchers will be distributed as in-kind support, meaning EnergyWerx will directly reimburse the voucher provider for the work they have completed on behalf of the Voucher Recipients. DOE anticipates the value of the Voucher to be up to $50,000. However, the specific value depends on the specific capability and is discussed only between DOE and the Provider.

Only work related to specific technology areas will be eligible to receive a Voucher under this opportunity.

List of eligible technology areas:

• Advanced nuclear
• Long-duration energy storage
• Hydrogen
• Advanced industrial technologies
• Upgrades to the electric grid
• Critical minerals
• Geothermal

DOE anticipates issuing approximately 55 vouchers.

Voucher Recipients: Limited to for-profit companies with a product prototype that fits one of the technology areas of interest listed above and is nearly ready for pilot scale, large-scale demonstration, or commercialization. DOE is particularly interested in supporting companies working on critical mineral technologies that support the development of a robust and secure domestic supply chain ecosystem. Moreover, DOE is interested in supporting companies who have completed DOE funded research and development projects (from any DOE office) and need a boost to get to the next level. Preference will be given to potential voucher recipients who have not previously received support through this program.

This Opportunity is limited to one submission per requesting organization. In the case of multiple submissions, DOE will consider only the submission with the latest time stamp.

Pending availability of funds, additional submission windows may open in the future for this Voucher Opportunity.

Submission Window: November 5, 2026 - December 16, 2026

• Start the VO-1 Recipient Application
• View the Pre-Approved Voucher Providers: Click Here to View

Voucher Recipient Applications are due no later than December 16, 2026 at 3:00 PM ET.

The Voucher Recipient Opportunities launched on November 5, 2026. Please see the announcement article for more information.

Informational Webinars: DOE will present and summarize the details of Voucher Opportunity 1 (Recipients). Potential applicants will gain a better understanding of the Voucher Opportunity 1 (Recipients) scope, scale, and intent and have the opportunity to ask questions of DOE staff. 

• Register for the Informational Webinar on November 18, 2026 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET
  
  • Focuses predominantly on explaining the Voucher Opportunity with some time for questions at the end.
• Register for the Informational Webinar on December 2, 2026 from 2:00-3:00 PM ET
  
  • Focuses predominantly on answering questions from potential applicants.

For an optimal experience, we recommend downloading the Microsoft Teams software to your computer, smartphone, or tablet.

Voucher Recipient Timeline

Phase 1 – Voucher Recipient Request Submissions Open (November 5, 2026 – December 16, 2026): Interested potential Voucher Recipients should complete the request form including background information on the recipient and requested capability(ies) as well as relevance to program goals, applicability of the selected capabilities, and benefits from receiving support.  

Phase 2 – DOE Selection (December 2026 – January 2027): DOE will review submissions based on relevance to the program objectives and will notify selected entities for next steps.

NOTE: DOE may choose to meet with submitters or ask additional clarifying questions prior to selection.

Phase 3 – Voucher approval and start of work (February 2027): Subsequently, Voucher projects will commence.

Submission Window: November 5, 2026 - December 16, 2026

• Start the VO-1 Recipient Application
• View the Pre-Approved Voucher Providers: Click Here to View

Voucher Recipient Applications are due no later than December 16, 2026 at 3:00 PM ET.

Eligibility Criteria

Limited to for-profit companies with a product prototype that fits one of the technology areas of interest listed above and is nearly ready for pilot scale, large-scale demonstration, or commercialization. DOE is particularly interested in supporting companies working on critical mineral technologies that support the development of a robust and secure domestic supply chain ecosystem. Moreover, DOE is interested in supporting companies who have completed DOE funded research and development projects (from any DOE office) and need a boost to get to the next level. Preference will be given to potential Voucher Recipients who have not previously received support through this program.

Voucher Recipients must qualify as a domestic entity. To qualify as a domestic entity, the entity must be organized, chartered, or incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a particular state or territory of the United States. The entity must have majority domestic ownership and control and have a physical place of business in the United States.  

Applicants must certify that they are not owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of government of Country of Risk. The U.S. Department of Energy defines Country of Risk to include China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Belarus. This list is subject to change.

Review Criteria

DOE will review and evaluate each application according to the merit review criteria, program policy factors, and the overall portfolio of proposed projects.  

Criteria 1: Technology Areas of Interest

• Applicant's product prototype fits one of the following technology areas of interest:
  
  • Advanced nuclear
  • Long-duration energy storage
  • Hydrogen
  • Advanced industrial technologies
  • Upgrades to the electric grid
  • Critical minerals
  • Geothermal

Criteria 2: Justification of Need

• Applicant explained the need to accelerate the commercialization of the advanced energy technology to prepare it for the market or for integration into a large-scale demonstration project.