Voucher Opportunity 5 (Recipients) - Commercialization Support (FECM)

Are you a carbon management or resource sustainability innovator and technology developer including, but not limited to, for-profit technology development firms, that needs commercialization support? This opportunity is designed to provide independent assessment of Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) technologies and practices for carbon management technologies and performance validation support for resource sustainability technologies See below for additional info about eligibility and timeline.

As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Technology Commercialization Fund, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), and Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), in collaboration with ENERGYWERX, is offering its Commercialization Support Voucher Opportunity (VO-5) to eligible companies to increase adoption readiness (with a focus on market acceptance) of clean energy technologies.

Note: In order to access the voucher provider list (the discussed .xlsx and .pdf files), you will need to successfully complete the eligibility form, which is part of your submission. Once the initial eligibility questions are successfully answered, you are permitted to access the actual application; and the .xlsx and .pdf files are located at the base of the application form. The eligibility/submission form can be found HERE.

The 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. Voucher Opportunity (VO-5) addresses key adoption risk areas faced by carbon management companies, including:

- Independent assessment of Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) technologies and practices for carbon management technologies

• Perform and evaluate life cycle assessment (LCA) and/or techno-economic assessment (TEA) on carbon management technologies using existing MRV procedures and technologies, with sensitivity analysis to identify key areas of improvement for scale up.
• Investigate, measure, and quantify the uncertainty associated with existing MRV tools/practices for carbon removal, capture, conversion, and storage, or similar greenhouse gas reductions approaches that are being used today, with specific focus on assessing and quantifying accuracy, precision, cost, and scalability of quantification.
• Evaluation of methods and tools to assess the additionality of carbon management technologies and the uncertainty or reversibility of carbon storage mechanisms through both biotic and abiotic mechanisms.
• Third-party validation of LCA/TEA/MRV for carbon management technology and assessment methodology developers; especially in topic areas aligned with FECM programs and the Energy Earth shots.
• Third-party support for independent evaluation of community engagement and benefits plans. Focus areas could include participatory mapping with community members to understand what is unique about their community, including existing burdens and areas of cultural importance.
• Support for independent entities building capacity to provide verification services to the growing carbon dioxide removal (CDR) industry.

- Resource sustainability technology performance validation support

• Planning and execution support for field tests, including those for resource sustainability applications (e.g., methane detection and reduction technologies, advance remediation technologies, and mineral sustainability technologies).
• Evaluation of observed emissions (including non-CO2 GHG and criteria pollution) relative to presumed emissions factors, especially by using improved or novel measurement technologies.
• Evaluation of technology performance under certification-relevant operating conditions.
• Accelerated lifetime testing to test for failure modes and better understand durability.

DOE has selected and pre-approved a cohort of voucher providers offering a variety of capabilities you might be interested into. For this voucher opportunity, capabilities include:

• MRV Assessment
• Performance Validation
• LCA/TEA
• Community Benefits

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

Voucher Projects: Expected voucher worth $100,000-$250,000 of work. Vouchers will be distributed as in-kind support, meaning that ENERGYWERX will directly reimburse the voucher provider for the work they have completed on behalf of the voucher recipients. Only work related to specific technology areas will be eligible to receive a voucher under this opportunity. List of eligible technology areas::

-   With FECM funding:

• Carbon Management
• Resource Sustainability

DOE anticipates issuing approximately 40 vouchers at this time.

Voucher Recipients: Limited to carbon management or resource sustainability innovators and technology developers including, but not limited to, for-profit technology development firm that are working to commercialize a prototype / product that fits a specific technology vertical of interest for DOE FECM.

This opportunity is limited to one submission per requesting organization. In the case of multiple submissions, all submissions but the one with the latest time stamp will be disqualified.

Voucher Recipients: How to Participate in VO-5

1. Review the resources from the October 26, 2023 IW/OSS
2. Review resources from the November 9, 2023 Office Hours
3. Download the Voucher Recipient Needs Request: Click Here to Download
4. Complete the Submission Form and upload completed Voucher Recipient Needs Request: Click Here to Submit (Submissions are due No Later Than November 16, 2023, 5:00 PM ET)

In order to access the voucher provider list (the discussed .xlsx and .pdf files), you will need to successfully complete the eligibility form, which is part of your submission. Once the initial eligibility questions are successfully answered, you are permitted to access the actual application; and the .xlsx and .pdf files are located at the base of the application form. The eligibility/submission form can be found HERE.

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

This is not the only voucher opportunity currently available through ENERGYWERX. See below for additional information related to other voucher opportunities:

• VO-1: Pre-Demonstration Commercialization Support (OCED/EERE)
  
• VO-2: Performance Validation, Modeling, and Certification Support (OCED/EERE)
  
• VO-3: Clean Energy Demonstration Project Siting/Permitting Support
  
• VO-4: Commercialization Support (EERE)

DOE is still finalizing selections; ENERGYWERX expects to make notifications in the coming weeks.

Informational Webinar/Objective Strategic Session (IW/OSS) [October 26, 2023 from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET]

Office Hours [November 9, 2023 from 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET]

Voucher Recipient: November 16, 2023 at 5:00 PM ET

Voucher Recipient Timeline

Phase 1 – Voucher Recipients Request Submission Open [October 18, 2023 - November 16, 2023]: Interested potential voucher recipients should submit one (1) Voucher Recipient Needs Request.

• Informational Webinar/Objective Strategic Session (IW/OSS) [October 26, 2023 from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET]: DOE will provide further details about Voucher Opportunities. Potential voucher recipients can better understand the scope, scale, and intent of the Voucher Program and ask questions of the DOE staff.
• Office Hours [November 9, 2023 from 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET]: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will host Office Hours to answer any remaining questions from potential applicants before the submission deadline.

‍Phase 2 – DOE Selection [December 2023]: 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 [January 2024]: Subsequently, voucher project will commence.

Complete the Submission Form and upload completed Voucher Recipient Needs Request: Click Here to Submit (Submissions are due No Later Than November 16, 2023, 5:00 PM ET)

Click HERE to review frequently asked questions.

Q: What are the eligibility requirements for voucher providers and recipients?

A: Please review the eligibility requirements for each Voucher Opportunity. In general, participation is open to any type of organization, unless specified in the Voucher Opportunity description.

Q: My company had an active DOE award after Jan 1, 2019 but was acquired by another company. Am I still eligible to apply to VO-1 or VO-4?

A: Only for-profit entities who received a DOE award/contract as prime recipient/contractor are eligible to apply to VO-1. Those entities as well as for-profit DOE prize winners are eligible for VO-4. Interested applicants can submit evidence of an acquisition, change of name, or change of the organization structure to prove the nexus between the applicant to the voucher and the entity who received DOE funding. DOE at its sole discretion will assess whether the nexus and the evidence provided meets the eligibility requirements for this voucher opportunity.

Q: My company had an active DOE award after Jan 1, 2019 to develop a new product and subsequently spun out a new company to commercialize that product. Am I still eligible to apply to VO-1 or VO-4?

A: Only for-profit entities who received a DOE award/contract as prime recipient/contractor are eligible to apply to VO-1. Those entities as well as for-profit DOE prize winners are eligible for VO-4. Interested applicants can submit evidence of an acquisition, change of name, or change of the organization structure to prove the nexus between the applicant to the voucher and the entity who received DOE funding. DOE at its sole discretion will assess whether the nexus and the evidence provided meets the eligibility requirements for this voucher opportunity.

Questions about ENERGYWERX

Q: What is ENERGYWERX?

A: ENERGYWERX is a neutral facilitator as a result of a Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) with the Department of Energy. ENERGYWERX will be coordinating the collection of applications, disbursement of funds, and voucher management for the Voucher Program.

Q: How does it work for performers?

A: Performers 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.

Q: What is an ENERGYWERX Informational Webinar (Objective Strategic Session)?

A: Interested participants join a virtual, open forum session to engage with DOE Partners, Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), and other potential applicants regarding the DOE’s desired focus area(s) of interest.

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