Capacity Building for Repurposing Energy Assets

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) and Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), in collaboration with its newly established Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA), called ENERGYWERX, will host an Objective Strategic Session (OSS) and Assessment Event (AE) to establish an initiative that will help energy communities build technical capacity and develop a workforce necessary to help revitalize energy systems, address environmental impacts, and tackle challenges associated with energy assets (power plants, coal mines, oil/gas well lands) that that have retired, or are slated for retirement (2009-2032). This effort will assist selected communities across the country create a baseline assessment towards repurposing the energy assets and help the communities to help them move to a net-zero emissions future.

This effort seeks to support performers (e.g., municipal governments, community-based NGOs) in capacity building and workforce development planning in communities that host existing energy assets that have retired, or are slated for retirement, and that comprise or comprised a significant portion of local activities (e.g., jobs, tax revenue, and related considerations).

In particular, the objective of this effort is to directly support an embedded work stream supported by a staffer whose primary responsibility is coordination and planning, with a particular emphasis on workforce development oriented around productively and sustainably repurposing such assets, their sites and associated infrastructure.

This effort advances FECM’s mission of minimizing environmental and climate impacts of fossil fuels and industrial processes while working to achieve net-zero emissions across our economy and the broader DOE mission of ensuring efficient transformation of the energy system while prioritizing labor and community engagement.

Community-based government or nongovernmental organizations (e.g., municipal governments; nonprofit organizations dedicated to community development, especially related to energy and economic transition) will dedicate a staff member whose primary responsibility is coordination and planning the productive and sustainable repurposing of an existing energy asset(s), especially emphasizing workforce development.

• Organizations should be based in communities that host existing energy assets that currently comprise (or comprised at some point within the last 5 years) a significant portion of local economic activities (e.g., jobs, tax revenue, and related considerations).    
• Existing energy assets of interest are primarily large, single facility assets (e.g., power plant; mine) with a planned or reasonably anticipated closure date between 2009 and 2032, but could also be a collection, network, or other agglomeration of facilities (e.g., natural gas or oil wells) that is expected to retire in the that time range.
• Organizations should articulate how this work stream is new and additive: the goal is to enable work not previously completed and to build capacity within the organization.
• Organizations should commit to knowledge sharing with other selected performers, e.g., through quarterly calls and/or meetings, and should be able to articulate how they will continue to share knowledge with other organizations facing similar challenges after the completion of this work stream.
• Organizations should commit to knowledge sharing with other selected performers, e.g., through quarterly calls and/or meetings, and should be able to articulate how they will continue to share knowledge with other organizations facing similar challenges after the completion of this work stream.

How to Participate

• Review the General Overview and Objective‍
• Review Resources from the September 7, 2023, IW/OSS
• Review Resources from the September 15, 2023 Q&A
• Download the Capabilities Overview Template: Click Here to Download‍
• Complete the Submission Form & Upload Completed Template: Click Here to Submit (NLT November 6, 2023, 5:00 PM ET)

September 7, 2023 IW/OSS from 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET

September 15, 2023 Q&A Session from 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET

October 30, 2023 Informational Office Hours from 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET

Submissions are due NLT November 6, 2023 5:00 PM ET

Phase 1 – Submissions Open [September7, 2023 to November 6, 2023]: The virtual OSS took place on September 7, 2023. Interested respondents must complete a submission form (for Government review only) no later than November 6, 2023, 5:00 pm ET. Submitters must download, complete, and upload a Capabilities Overview (maximum of 3 pages). The list of criteria is listed on the Capabilities Overview Template, found at the bottom of this webpage.

Phase 2 – Government Review and Down select [November 7, 2023 to November 30, 2023]: DOE will down select respondents/submissions with the highest likelihood of satisfying their needs.All respondents will receive a selection or non-selection notification o/aDecember 10, 2023.

Phase 3 – Path Forward [December 2023 to October 2024]: Subsequently, selectees will participate in a discussion with DOE SMEs to learn more about the scope of work determined by the Government. The intent is for selectees to receive a formal Business-to-Business (B2B) Research and Development Agreement (RDA) and Statement of Effort (SOE) as a sub-award (15 U.S. Code, Section 3715) from ENERGYWERX. However, after discussions with the Government, successfully negotiated awards may fall under (but are not limited to) alternate mechanism of awards/interactions with any combination of these categories:

• Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (15 U.S. Code, Section 3710a)
• OTA for research or prototype projects (10 U.S. Code Sections 4021, 4022)
• An award under 10 U. S. Code, Section 4022 may result in the further award of a follow-on production agreement without additional competition based on successful prototype completion. The Government may make this follow-on production award even if all successful prototype criteria are not fully met during the     prototype project.
• Procurement for experimental purposes (10 U.S. Code Section 4023)
• Prizes for advanced technology achievements (10 U. S. Code Section 4025) and/or prize competitions (15 U.S. Code 3719)
• FAR-based procurement contract?

Phase 4 – Effort Underway [December14, 2023, to September 30, 2024]: Throughout the work, DOE seeks that selected organizations work closely with the DOE team, including attending and participating in three interactive sessions as a commitment to knowledge sharing and learning with other selected performers. The participants should be able to articulate and share knowledge with other organizations facing similar challenges who are also working on completion of this work stream. This would be a highly collaborative, fast-paced engagement model. Materials would be created in partnership and conversation with DOE stakeholders – with additional research and analysis supplementing where needed. The goal would be to produce as much useful content in time for key DOE decision points as possible with the option to finalize work products after that date. In addition, DOE encourages (as needed) check-ins via email, when possible (info@energywerx.org),to provide feedback & guidance and share learnings and insights.

Deep technical subject matter expertise is not required as background; however, some familiarity with relevant technologies and industries will be helpful. The selected performer will need the work at a fast pace, quickly synthesize information, write in a clear and concise manner (with detailed footnotes and source tracking where appropriate), and to find supplementary information as needed (e.g., existing market landscape, relevant manufacturing announcements, pricing/cost data, supply/demand projections).

Complete the Submission Form & Upload Completed Template: Click Here to Submit (Submissions are due NLT November 6, 2023, 5:00 PM ET)

Review all the Q&As from the OSS below

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact ENERGYWERX: info@energywerx.org