***Selections for the Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration Funding Program were announced on May 10, 2023. View the list of projects.***

This is a graphic to promote the open funding opportunity for Grid Services.

Office: Solar Energy Technologies Office and Wind Energy Technologies Office
FOA number: DE-FOA-0002745
Link to apply: Apply on EERE Exchange
FOA Amount: $26 million

On August 2, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) and the Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) announced the Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration funding opportunity, which will award $26 million in funding for projects that demonstrate the reliable operation of a power system that has up to 100% of its power contribution coming from solar, wind, and battery storage resources.

Grid services, which largely involves maintaining the voltage and frequency stability, are critical to maintain reliability. Because new wind and solar generation are interfaced with the grid through power electronic inverters, they have different characteristics and dynamics than traditional sources of generation that currently supply these services. Demonstrating that a grid fully powered by inverter-based resources is as reliable or more reliable at providing these services is a key barrier to the clean energy transition.

Projects in this funding opportunity will support the development of controls and methods for inverter-based resources like solar and wind to provide the same grid services as traditional generation. The research activities resulting from this funding opportunity will help increase the reliability of energy systems, which will help meet the Biden administration’s goals for achieving a decarbonized electricity sector by 2035.

Topics

Topic 1: Wind and Solar Grid Services Design, Implementation, and Demonstration (3-5 projects, $3-6 million each)

Projects in this topic area will combine at least 10 megawatts of solar, wind, and storage to conduct long-duration demonstrations at existing large-scale wind and solar generation facilities connected to bulk power systems to show their capability of providing grid services at scale. These projects will need to develop centralized and/or autonomous local controls that demonstrate the feasibility of these facilities to reliably respond to operational commands and schedules in the existing bulk power grid.

Topic 2: Protection of Bulk Power Systems with High Contribution from Inverter-Based Resources (3-4 projects, $2-3 million each)

Projects in this topic area will conduct large-scale studies of transmission protection systems to determine how they respond to faults in situations where there are large amounts of inverter-based resources. Projects will be expected to advance protection modeling and simulation capabilities and to develop technologies and strategies to maintain transmission grid reliability at any level of inverter-based generation.

Teaming Partner List

Utilities, laboratories, equipment manufacturers, software vendors, engineering firms, and universities (including community colleges) are encouraged to apply to this funding opportunity. Under all topics, teams that include multiple partners are preferred over applications that include a single organization. Teams are encouraged to include representation from diverse entities, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) or Minority Serving Institutions (MSI), or through linkages with Opportunity Zones, and well as with relevant labor unions where appropriate. To facilitate the formation of teams, SETO and WETO are providing a forum where interested parties can add themselves to a Teaming Partner List, which allows organizations that may wish to apply to the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) but not as the prime applicant, to express interest to potential partners.

Download the Teaming Partner List (Excel file)

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should submit the following information in Excel format to SI.Grid-FOA.SETO@ee.doe.gov with the subject line “Teaming Partner Information”: organization name, contact name, contact address, contact email, contact phone, organization type, area of technical expertise, brief description of capabilities, and topic area.

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 enabling and publishing the Teaming Partner List, EERE 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. EERE will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any applicants or requesting organizations for the development of such information.

Webinar

SETO hosted an informational webinar on Aug. 17 to discuss the funding program and the areas of focus. Watch the recording and download the slides (PDF).

Key Dates

FOA Issue Date: 8/2/2022
Informational Webinar: 8/17/2022 at 1 p.m. ET. 
Submission Deadline for Concept Papers: 9/15/2022 at 5 p.m. ET
Submission Deadline for Full Applications: 11/17/2022 at 5 p.m. ET
Expected Date for EERE Selection Notifications: Feb. 2023
Expected Timeframe for Award Negotiations: Feb. – June 2023

Additional Information

To make the sign-in process more secure, the EERE Funding Opportunity Exchange (eXCHANGE) will soon be updated to integrate with Login.gov—a secure service used by the public to sign into participating government agencies. Beginning August 5*, all potential applicants and reviewers will need to have a Login.gov account to access eXCHANGE and apply to open opportunities. For more important information about this change, please read the MFA Quick Guide.

*Date is tentative and subject to change.