Q&A 3.pdf

DE-FOA-0003355

Questions and Answers

Amendment 00003 [Note some questions have pending responses that will be provided in an upcoming amendment]

Number Question Answer 1 I would just like to know if we need to apply to cover all three areas of interest, or if we could just focus on one or two of the three? I saw in the FOA you are only planning on making one award for Program Area 1, so I want to confirm that our application needs to cover all three areas of interest for program area 1.

All Areas of Interests (AOI) under each Program Area should be addressed. Applicants can apply to one or both Program Areas.

2 According to the grant we must apply to it as a consortium. Is there a minimum number of entities needed to form a consortium? And is there a minimum percent of funding allocated to the sub-recipients as part of the consortium?

The minimum number of entities would be 2 to be considered a consortium. There is no minimum funding, but the funding should be considered meaningful.

3 According to the second bullet under area 1: "Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Technology Consultation, Analysis and Cooperation", we are to conduct analyses and prepare studies and reports on selected topics by fossil energy and carbon management experts. Are we supposed to identify those topics as part of our application? Or will we determine those topics once the project begins and we consult with the experts?

Or will the office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management weigh in on what we should cover?

Criteria 2 in the Merit Review is helpful to answer this question.

Criterion 2 - Quality of the Proposal – 33.3%

• Extent that the Applicant shows a clear understanding of the importance of verifiable deliverables.

• Extent to which the proposed tasks and subtask activities in the work plan are verified through measurable deliverables.

• The quality, depth, and detail of the proposal in achieving stated goals.

• Extent to which the Applicant understands and discusses the project risks and challenges and the soundness of the strategies and methods that will be used to overcome them.

The narrative submitted by the proposer should demonstrate an understanding of the kind of work we do, and they should include examples that demonstrate past experience doing that kind of work (are capable of carrying out the analysis.). While it is true that we jointly will determine what the topics will be, it is also true that the proposer must be able to demonstrate some level of comfortability and competence in the areas that we already work in.

4 Our consortium is interested in applying to DE-FOA- 0003355. The proposal would be to introduce a program and initiative, the first of its kind, for a Geologic Hydrogen collaboration and partnership between US technology companies and international partners.

The proposal would focus purely on building and running a program that enables, encourages, and facilitates collaboration in the space of geologic hydrogen at a physical site in [REDACTED].

The members of the consortium, two US based entities, are integral to the success of the proposal. Would this be within the scope of Program Area 2 under the FOA?

We are not able to determine the applicability of the applicant’s project through the Question-and-Answer process. Applicants should be aware that this opportunity is for outreach and educational activities, it is not for research and development or demonstration activities.

5 Project narrative file requirement on page 15 says 50 pages. But summary of file requirements table on page 21 says project narrative file as 25 pages. Which is correct?

Please advice.

Project Narrative shall not exceed 25 pgs for each Program Area. See amendment 0001

6 Success Criteria at Decision Points: Provide success This simply means that the recipient will have to file criteria for each decision point in the project, including go/no-go decision points and the conclusions of budget periods and the entire project."

Could you clarify what is meant by decision point at the end of each budget period?

We understand go/no go decision points for phased R&D project.

We are not sure of the relevance for this type of SOW.

quarterly and annual status/progress reports at the end of each quarter/year, and those reports should include wording that allows DOE officials to assess the progress (or lack of progress) toward the stated goals. The recipient should be able to define measurable criteria that are meaningful, and then provide status of those criteria, i.e, “not started, in progress, completed, etc.” As far as the phrase, “decision point at the end of each budget period,” each budget period should be viewed as its own unique set of activities. Upon reading the annual report, DOE will make a go/no-go decision as to whether or not it wishes to continue the partnership into the next budget period or not.

7 May I kindly request clarity on the page limit for the Project Narrative? One instance lists the limit as 25 pages and another instance says 50 pages. Which is correct?

See answer to question 5.

8 It seems odd that an FOA titled Promoting Domestic and International Consensus on Clean Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Technologies specifically rules out including an international entity in a consortium. Should it be possible to apply for a waiver to enable participation of an international entity?

The United States has tremendous domestic capacity to do the work listed in the SOW, as evidenced by the successful completion of multiple past awards of similar type, and thus US-based sources are required.

9 Is there a page limit for Project Management Plan? No, there is no page limitation.

10 The Budget justification work sheets is for there budget periods. The SOW asks for 5 years. Can you tell what budget periods to use in Budget justification workbook

See Amendment 0002.

11 Where should we upload budget spreadsheet for prime and sub recipient

Documents that do not have their own designated section for upload, maybe uploaded under Other Attachments.

Partnership Requests We at The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) are very interested and very capable of handling all conference and workshop requirements in either Program Area 1: CLEAN FOSSIL ENERGY AND CARBON MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES or program area 2: DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL OIL, NATURAL GAS, METHANE HYDRATES, HYDROGEN, CRITICAL MINERALS, AND CARBON MANAGEMENT. We already host multiple conferences and workshops every year that are very similar and relevant to these topics. For example, we are hosting two relevant conferences in September of this year. Our Power 2024 conference focuses on research and development specifically relevant to power generation as it applies to current and future power industry issues, applications, and emerging technologies. And our IPCE 2024 (International Pipeline Conference & Expo) “Innovations in Energy Pipelines: Fueling the Future”. We would also be interested in adding sessions to our existing relevant and related conferences and workshops to meet the deliverables of this grant. This could result in significant cost savings that we could pass on to the government, or drastic increase the number of events we could host for the same budget. Below are the links for both:

POWER 2024

IPCE 2024

Contact: Michael McKenna Project Manager, Research Standards

ASME

2 Park Avenue New York, NY, 10016 Tel 1.212.591.8838 Mobile 1.631.918.2891 mckennam@asme.org https://event.asme.org/POWER?_gl=1*wildxa*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MTk4NjIwOTUuRUFJYUlRb2JDaE1JejZ2MXZzbUdod01WN1dWSEFSM3RWZ1VoRUFBWUFTQUFFZ0swNlBEX0J3RQ..*_gcl_dc*R0NMLjE3MTk4NjIwOTUuRUFJYUlRb2JDaE1JejZ2MXZzbUdod01WN1dWSEFSM3RWZ1VoRUFBWUFTQUFFZ0swNlBEX0J3RQ..*_gcl_au*NDMwNDcyNjQ0LjE3MTMyODE5MjU.*_ga*MTYxMDg0MTUxNS4xNTk3ODM4NTEw*_ga_3DH4W3W6HS*MTcxOTg2MTU1Ny4xNzg2LjEuMTcxOTg2MjkyNi4zOS4wLjA.&_ga=2.43757797.1155743141.1719836849-1610841515.1597838510&_gac=1.242354870.1719862079.EAIaIQobChMIz6v1vsmGhwMV7WVHAR3tVgUhEAAYASAAEgK06PD_BwE https://event.asme.org/POWER?_gl=1*wildxa*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MTk4NjIwOTUuRUFJYUlRb2JDaE1JejZ2MXZzbUdod01WN1dWSEFSM3RWZ1VoRUFBWUFTQUFFZ0swNlBEX0J3RQ..*_gcl_dc*R0NMLjE3MTk4NjIwOTUuRUFJYUlRb2JDaE1JejZ2MXZzbUdod01WN1dWSEFSM3RWZ1VoRUFBWUFTQUFFZ0swNlBEX0J3RQ..*_gcl_au*NDMwNDcyNjQ0LjE3MTMyODE5MjU.*_ga*MTYxMDg0MTUxNS4xNTk3ODM4NTEw*_ga_3DH4W3W6HS*MTcxOTg2MTU1Ny4xNzg2LjEuMTcxOTg2MjkyNi4zOS4wLjA.&_ga=2.43757797.1155743141.1719836849-1610841515.1597838510&_gac=1.242354870.1719862079.EAIaIQobChMIz6v1vsmGhwMV7WVHAR3tVgUhEAAYASAAEgK06PD_BwE https://event.asme.org/IPC?_gl=1*otxlct*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3MTk4NjIwOTUuRUFJYUlRb2JDaE1JejZ2MXZzbUdod01WN1dWSEFSM3RWZ1VoRUFBWUFTQUFFZ0swNlBEX0J3RQ..*_gcl_dc*R0NMLjE3MTk4NjIwOTUuRUFJYUlRb2JDaE1JejZ2MXZzbUdod01WN1dWSEFSM3RWZ1VoRUFBWUFTQUFFZ0swNlBEX0J3RQ..*_gcl_au*NDMwNDcyNjQ0LjE3MTMyODE5MjU.*_ga*MTYxMDg0MTUxNS4xNTk3ODM4NTEw*_ga_3DH4W3W6HS*MTcxOTg2MTU1Ny4xNzg2LjEuMTcxOTg2MzAyMS42MC4wLjA.&_ga=2.10008693.1155743141.1719836849-1610841515.1597838510&_gac=1.246571440.1719862079.EAIaIQobChMIz6v1vsmGhwMV7WVHAR3tVgUhEAAYASAAEgK06PD_BwE