Notice of Intent to issue Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator Notice of Funding Opportunity.pdf

Notice of Intent No. DE-FOA-0003588

Notice of Intent to Issue

Notice of Funding Opportunity No. DE-FOA-0003589

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) entitled “Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator” with up to $50M in funds to support research and development.

This NOFO supports critical minerals and materials. Critical minerals and materials (CMM) are the building blocks for technologies foundational to U.S. energy dominance, national security, and industrial competitiveness. To build a secure domestic supply of CMMs, the U.S.

Department of Energy (DOE) aims to support industry-led partnerships to prototype and pilot innovative processing technologies that are currently only proven at the bench scale so to address CMM challenges in high impact areas. The CMM Accelerator program will advance these mid-stage innovations through validation, benchmarking, access to national lab test beds, testing in industry relevant environments, technoeconomic analysis, and life-cycle assessment.

The program establishes a pipeline to support technology maturation to ultimately unlock private capital investments. It also will leverage other DOE lab-based investments, such as the Critical Materials Innovation Hub (CMI Hub) and the Minerals to Materials Supply Chain Research Facility (METALLIC). Technologies resulting from the program are expected to have a path to domestic commercialization within 3-7 years.

The goals of this NOFO are to:

• Foster industry partnerships to prototype and pilot technologies and processes proven at the bench scale to accelerate adoption of 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;

• Enable informed decisions, optimize processes, and build confidence in technology scale up through Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and (Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA);

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

NOFO topic development is coordinated through the Critical Materials Collaborative (CMC) to be complementary to and collaborative with other critical material investments made by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

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

Area of Interest 1: Processes in the rare earth magnet supply chain including production from post-consumer and post-industrial secondary sources.

Area of Interest 2: Processes to refine and alloy gallium, gallium nitride, germanium, and silicon carbide for use in semiconductors.

Area of Interest 3: Technologies for cost competitive direct lithium extraction and separation.

Area of Interest 4: Technologies that improve cost competitiveness of critical material separation technologies through coproduction of value-added products from byproducts and scrap.

DOE plans to award multiple cooperative agreements. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately 1-4 years.

Teaming Partner List:

DOE is compiling a Teaming Partner List to facilitate the formation of new project teams for the NOFO. 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 serves to inform the public of DOE’s intention to issue a future NOFO. However, DOE may elect to: issue a NOFO as described above; issue a NOFO that is significantly different than the NOFO described above; or not issue a NOFO. All of the information provided in this notice is subject to change. DOE will not respond to questions related to this notice. However, once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide a mechanism for potential applicants to submit questions.

https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx#FoaId61687146-d965-4694-b84d-3e7df833dc9c

NOFO Release Date: The NOFO is expected to be available on or around October 2025 via eXCHANGE.0F

1 To receive official notifications and information about this NOFO interested applicants should register with EERE eXCHANGE. See below for more information on registering.

Before applying, interested applicants must create and maintain up-to-date registrations with Login.gov, the System for Award Management (SAM.gov), eXCHANGE, FedConnect and Grants.gov. These registrations can take several weeks to finalize. Begin registering early.

First-time applicants should register in the following order:

1. LOGIN.GOV REGISTRATION

Login.gov is a single sign-on solution for US government websites. It enables users to log in to services from numerous government agencies using the same username and password.

Go to Create an account | Login.gov. Login.gov is a secure sign-in service used by the public to sign in to government sites like Grants.gov and SAM.gov.

Login.gov accounts are tied to an individual, not an organization. The email account used when registering should be specific to an individual (e.g., name@abc.org or name@email.com) and not an account shared by multiple people (e.g., group@abc.org).

However, 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.

2. System for Award Management (SAM) REGISTRATION

Applicants must have an active account with SAM.gov. This includes having a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). Additional entity validation resources can be found here: Quick Access Links

- Validating Your Entity. SAM.gov registration can take several weeks. To register, go to SAM.gov Entity Registration and click Get Started. From the same page, applicants can also click on the Entity Registration Checklist for the information applicants will need to register.

Please note that the email address associated with Login.gov must match the email address associated with the eXCHANGE account.

Each applicant must:

1. Be registered in SAM.gov before submitting an application;

2. Provide a valid Unique Entity Identifier in the application; and

3. Maintain an active registration in SAM.GOV with current information when there is a federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a federal agency.

1 As of October 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has transitioned from using "Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)" to "Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)" in accordance with updated federal guidelines.

Please be aware that eXCHANGE may still display "FOA" in some areas until all systems are fully updated.

https://login.gov/create-an-account/ 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

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.

3. eXCHANGE REGISTRATION EERE eXCHANGE - EERE eXCHANGE: Funding Opportunities The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) employs the EERE eXCHANGE platform to announce and manage funding opportunities. This system facilitates the submission and review of applications for grants and cooperative agreements related to energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

From the eXCHANGE homepage, click “Register” in the left-hand navigation pane. Then click "New External User" to initiate the registration process. After authentication, users will be redirected to eXCHANGE to complete a user profile.

Starting January 1, 2025, DOE eXCHANGE databases require login through Enhanced Identity Proofing using Login.gov or ID.me, which may take up to 10 days to process. Users are encouraged to complete this update early to avoid delays. Registration for Enhanced Identity Proofing is located in the Login Section for each platform.

4. FedConnect REGISTRATION FedConnect is a communication web portal which enables communication with contractors, offerors, applicants, and recipients, establishing an open, secure channel of communication between external parties and DOE.

Go to FedConnect: Registration using the organization’s Unique Entity ID obtained from SAM registration. New users should create a new account using the SAM points of contact.

5. Grants.gov REGISTRATION

Grants.gov provides a common website for federal agencies to post discretionary funding opportunities (NOFO) and for entities to find and apply to them. While DOE publishes opportunities on Grants.gov, it does not accept applications submitted through Grants.gov.

DOE uses the eXCHANGE platforms to manage its NOFOs and applications. Applications must be submitted through appropriate eXCHANGE platform.

Potential applicants can go to Register | Grants.gov to receive automatic updates when amendments to a NOFO are posted. eXCHANGE also sends emails notifications to registered users regarding updates and amendments to a NOFO.

https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/ https://login.gov/ https://id.me/ https://www.fedconnect.net/fedconnect/PublicUserRegistration.aspx https://grants.gov/register

HELP DESKS

Questions about or assistance with these sites, including questions regarding electronic accessibility please contact the respective help desks directly.

Login.gov: Help | Login.gov SAM: SAM.gov | Help eXCHANGE: EERE: Funding Opportunity Exchange (eXCHANGE) - Help Center FedConnect: FedConnect Technical Support Grants.gov: Grants.gov Online Help https://login.gov/help/ https://sam.gov/content/help https://eeresystemhelp.ee.doe.gov/servicedesk/customer/portal/7 https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/TechSupport.aspx#:%7E:text=For%20other%20technical%20issues%20or,%2C%20EDT%2C%20except%20Federal%20holidays.

https://apply07.grants.gov/help/html/help/index.htm#t=GetStarted%2FGetStarted.htm