Request for Information (RFI) on H2@Scale (Hydrogen at Scale): Determining Opportunities to Facilitate Wide-Scale Hydrogen Adoption for Energy Security and Economic Growth | DE FOA 0001965

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001965

This opportunity is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Request for Information (RFI) tied to its H2@Scale (Hydrogen at Scale) initiative, which is focused on accelerating wide-scale hydrogen production and use in the United States to support energy security and economic growth. The central idea behind H2@Scale is that hydrogen can serve as a flexible energy carrier and industrial feedstock if it can be produced affordably from diverse domestic resources and then delivered and used across multiple sectors. DOE is using this RFI to gather input that can shape future planning, program strategy, and potentially future competitive funding opportunities, but it is not itself a grant competition.

DOE describes H2@Scale as a broad, cross-sector vision: lowering the cost of hydrogen production and distribution, expanding the range of domestic feedstocks that can be used to make hydrogen affordably, enabling new end uses, improving electric grid flexibility, cutting emissions through new applications of lower-cost hydrogen, creating jobs in expanding industries, and strengthening U.S. technology leadership for export. In practical terms, the initiative is looking beyond one single hydrogen pathway and instead emphasizes a portfolio approach that could include multiple production methods and multiple markets (for example, industry, transportation, power, and other large hydrogen-consuming segments).

The specific objective of this RFI is to identify and quantify U.S. domestic resources that could support large-scale hydrogen production, and to outline workable pathways for leveraging those resources in both the near term and longer term. DOE is particularly interested in how major industries that need large volumes of hydrogen could access supplies that are affordable, secure, domestically sourced, and scalable. In addition to resource potential, the RFI seeks feedback on the real-world barriers that slow deployment and adoption, including technical challenges, cost drivers, and infrastructure constraints (for example, production scale-up issues, delivery and storage limitations, and integration challenges across end-use sectors).

This RFI is positioned as complementary to the Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO) early-stage research and development efforts. DOE explicitly signals that it wants to leverage private-sector knowledge and experience to better understand deployment hurdles and market realities that may not be fully visible through lab-scale R&D alone. It also ties to a separate FCTO RFI released earlier (June 13, 2018) focused specifically on hydrogen infrastructure barriers, indicating that DOE is building a broader picture across supply, infrastructure, and end-use adoption.

A key point is that this is not a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). DOE is not accepting applications, and there is no funding available through this notice. DOE may decide to release a FOA in the future that is informed by the responses, but it may also choose not to, and there is no guarantee any funding competition will result. Submitting a response does not provide any advantage or disadvantage in any future competition, and DOE will not reimburse any costs associated with preparing an RFI response.

DOE also makes clear how it will treat submissions. Responses are for information-gathering only, may be used on a non-attribution basis for government planning and strategy, and do not create any obligation for DOE to take follow-on action. DOE does not promise to confirm receipt, provide feedback, respond to individual submissions, or publish a compiled set of responses. Because responses could help structure future programs and could potentially become public in some form, DOE strongly advises respondents not to include proprietary, confidential, or business-sensitive information; if such information is included anyway, it must be clearly marked.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity was posted by the Department of Energy, Golden Field Office, under opportunity number DE FOA 0001965 (though it is an RFI rather than a FOA). Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning any type of entity could submit input. Submissions had to be provided through the EERE Exchange site or by email according to the RFI submission guidelines, with a deadline of 5:00 pm Eastern Time on October 31, 2018. The listing reflects no expected awards because the action is purely an information request rather than a funding program. The full RFI content and submission instructions are hosted on EERE Exchange at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Request for Information (RFI) on H2@Scale (Hydrogen at Scale): Determining Opportunities to Facilitate Wide-Scale Hydrogen Adoption for Energy Security and Economic Growth" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 01, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 31, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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