URL eXCHANGE NOFO 3580.docx

This is a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) issued by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, Office of Electricity, for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) SPARK program (DE-FOA-0003580, Modification 000001). The SPARK initiative aims to address load demand growth, resource adequacy, and critical national infrastructure needs by stimulating investment in power system infrastructure through cooperative agreements. Projects must demonstrate measurable improvements in electric grid capacity and system value by combining physical capacity gains—such as reconductoring or infrastructure upgrades—with operational efficiency and flexibility from Advanced Transmission Technologies. The program prioritizes projects that can be implemented quickly to deliver durable physical upgrades and dynamic operational gains that enhance the grid's value, performance, security, resilience, affordability, and reliability while utilizing existing rights of way.

Modification 000001 clarified participant eligibility by confirming Tennessee Valley Authority's eligibility as a subrecipient across all topic areas, refined language in the Grid Resilience topic area regarding applications not of interest, and removed the requirement that each concept paper be limited to a single concept, technology, or project. The full NOFO text, including detailed application instructions, evaluation criteria, and specific deadlines, is available through the DOE eXCHANGE portal under the Funding Opportunities section. Applications are subject to an objective merit review process based on evaluation criteria outlined in the competitive notice, with typical federal grant awards under the Grid Infrastructure Deployment and Resilience program (CFDA 81.254) ranging from $1.8 million to $888.5 million over three to eight years.