Notice of Intent_DE-FOA-0003154_Critical Materials Accelerator FOA.pdf

Notice of Intent No. DE-FOA-0003154

Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0003155

Critical Materials Accelerator Funding Opportunity Announcement

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled, “Critical Materials Accelerator”.

The global effort to reduce carbon emissions is accelerating demand for clean energy technologies and the materials they rely on. The United States seeks to strengthen domestic supply of materials that are essential to a decarbonized energy infrastructure. Projects funded under this FOA will prototype and mature technologies or processes that address critical material challenges in high impact areas.

By accelerating innovative critical material manufacturing technologies, the U.S. positions itself at the forefront of clean energy production while securing a reliable domestic critical material supply chain needed to enable a clean energy future. This effort not only promotes secure and sustainable practices but also creates valuable American manufacturing jobs. It further supports communities with mining and energy backgrounds while establishing responsible and ethical networks for critical material supply.

The goals of this FOA are to:

• Foster industry partnerships to prototype and pilot technologies and processes proven at the bench scale to accelerate innovative solutions to address critical material challenges in high impact areas;

• Validate the materials and manufacturing technologies that reduce demand or extend the lifetime of critical materials through performance testing and modeling;

• Enable informed decisions, optimize processes, and build confidence in technology scale up through life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis;

• Address the urgency to meet critical material demand with secure and sustainable critical material manufacturing technologies.

It is anticipated that the FOA may include the following Areas of Interest:

Area of Interest 1 – Critical Material Lean/Free Magnets for Clean Energy Technologies

Area of Interest 2 – Motors and Drivetrains using Critical Material Lean/Free Magnets Area of Interest 3 – Improved Unit Operations of Processing and Manufacturing of Critical Materials Area of Interest 4 – Critical Material Recovery from Scrap and Post-Consumer Products Area of Interest 5 – Reduced Critical Material Demand for Clean Energy Technologies

EERE envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately one to three years.

On July 31, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the 2023 Critical Materials Assessment (CMA) which examined material criticality based on importance to clean energy and susceptibility to supply disruption in the short- and medium-terms. The 2023 CMA enables DOE to set priorities for investments through the Critical Materials Research, Development, Demonstration, and Commercialization Application (RDD&CA) Program, This FOA will solicit proposals that emphasize impacts on material supply chains identified as critical through the CMA to continue advancing science and technology innovation and de-risking technologies that build and transform domestic critical material supply chains.

DOE is compiling a Teaming Partner List to facilitate the formation of new project teams for the FOA. All entities interested in participating as part of an applicant team can provide their contact information for the Teaming Partner List. The list allows organizations to express their interest and to explore potential partners.

• Updates to the Teaming Partner List will be available on the EERE eXCHANGE website.

The Teaming Partner List will be regularly updated to reflect new teaming partners who have provided their organization’s teaming partner information.

• SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: Any organization that would like to be included on this list should submit their information to Teaming Partner List via EERE eXCHANGE

• DISCLAIMER: By submitting a request to be included on the Teaming Partner List, the requesting organization consents to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating the Teaming Partner List, DOE is not endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise evaluating the qualifications of the individuals and organizations that are self-identifying themselves for placement on this Teaming Partner List. DOE will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any applicants or requesting organizations for the development of such information.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential applicants to submit questions.

https://www.energy.gov/fe/office-fossil-energy https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-07/doe-critical-material-assessment_07312023.pdf https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-07/doe-critical-material-assessment_07312023.pdf https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaIdbda82521-47ee-4ae2-ba75-0d54f21b9f32

The Critical Material Accelerator FOA complements the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Critical Materials Innovation, Efficiency, and Alternatives” FOA No DE-FOA-0003105 recently released by the office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. The BIL FOA covers the following topics: Critical Mineral and Material (CMM) Supply Chains, CMM Value Added Products, Next Generation Technologies, Alternative Materials, and Alternative Products.

EERE plans to issue the FOA on or about October 23rd via the EERE eXCHANGE website https://eere-eXCHANGE.energy.gov/. If applicants wish to receive official notifications and information from EERE regarding this FOA, they should register in EERE eXCHANGE. When the FOA is released, applications will be accepted only through EERE eXCHANGE.

In anticipation of the FOA being released, applicants are advised to complete the following steps, which are required for application submission:

• Register and create an account in EERE eXCHANGE at https://eere-eXCHANGE.energy.gov. This account will allow the user to apply to any open EERE FOAs that are currently in EERE eXCHANGE.

• Potential applicants will be required to have a Login.gov account to access EERE eXCHANGE. As part of the eXCHANGE registration process, new users will be directed to create an account in Login.gov. Please note that the email address associated with Login.gov must match the email address associated with the eXCHANGE account. For more information, refer to the Exchange Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Quick Guide in the Manuals section of eXCHANGE.

It is recommended that each organization or business unit, whether acting as a team or a single entity, use only one account as the contact point for each submission. Questions related to the registration process and use of the EERE Exchange website should be submitted to: EERE-eXCHANGESupport@hq.doe.gov.

• Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM) - Each applicant (unless the applicant is excepted from those requirements under 2 CFR 25.110) is required to: (1) Be registered in the SAM at https://www.sam.gov before submitting its application; (2) provide a valid UEI number in its application; and (3) continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a federal awarding agency. DOE may not make a federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable UEI and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time DOE is ready to make a federal award, the DOE will determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a federal award to another applicant.

o NOTE: Due to the high demand of UEI requests and SAM registrations, entity legal business name and address validations are taking longer than expected to process. Entities should start the UEI and SAM registration process as soon as https://www.energy.gov/fe/office-fossil-energy https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/ https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/ https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/ mailto:EERE-eXCHANGESupport@hq.doe.gov mailto:EERE-eXCHANGESupport@hq.doe.gov https://www.sam.gov/ possible. If entities have technical difficulties with the UEI validation or SAM registration process they should utilize the HELP feature on SAM.gov. SAM.gov will work entity service tickets in the order in which they are received and asks that entities not create multiple service tickets for the same request or technical issue. Additional entity validation resources can be found here: GSAFSD Tier 0 Knowledge Base - Validating your Entity.

• Register in FedConnect at https://www.fedconnect.net/ To create an organization account, your organization’s SAM MPIN is required. For more information about the SAM MPIN or other registration requirements, review the FedConnect Ready, Set, Go!

Guide at:

https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/Marketing/Documents/FedConnect_Ready_S et_ Go.pdf.

• Register in Grants.gov to receive automatic updates when Amendments to a FOA are posted. However, please note that applications will not be accepted through Grants.gov.

http://www.grants.gov/. All applications must be submitted through EERE eXCHANGE.

https://www.energy.gov/fe/office-fossil-energy https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0058422&sys_kb_id=1b5f22581b2115102fe5ed7ae54bcb4e&spa=1 https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0058422&sys_kb_id=1b5f22581b2115102fe5ed7ae54bcb4e&spa=1 https://www.fedconnect.net/ https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/Marketing/Documents/FedConnect_Ready_Set_%20Go.pdf https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/Marketing/Documents/FedConnect_Ready_Set_%20Go.pdf http://www.grants.gov/