BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW: LONG-DURATION ENERGY STORAGE DEMONSTRATIONS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT | DE FOA 0002867

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002867

The Department of Energy (DOE), through its Golden Field Office, issued Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002867 under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund large, real-world demonstration projects for long-duration energy storage (LDES). The core goal is to accelerate storage technologies that can reliably deliver electricity for extended periods, specifically in the 10 to 24 hour range or longer, as a way to help build a low-cost, dependable, and carbon-free electric grid. The opportunity is framed as a major national push to prove emerging storage solutions at meaningful scale, reduce technical and integration risk, and strengthen U.S. leadership in energy storage technologies and supply chains.

The total program effort described is approximately $349 million, with DOE expecting to make about 11 awards. Individual awards can be as large as $70,000,000, and DOE plans to fund selected projects using cooperative agreements, which typically means substantial federal involvement during the project period (for example, coordinated project management, milestones, and technical reviews) rather than a hands-off grant structure. The funding activity is categorized under Energy and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and the associated CFDA number is 81.255.

This FOA is focused on demonstrations, not early lab research. Projects are expected to validate newer or emerging LDES technologies in conditions that reflect real grid needs and operational constraints. Beyond proving the technology itself, the solicitation emphasizes improving the ability of customers, utilities, communities, and other grid stakeholders to integrate long-duration storage more effectively. In practice, that often means projects that generate transferable learning about permitting, safety, grid interconnection, operations, maintenance, market participation, and how storage can support reliability during long renewable lulls, peak demand events, or other stress conditions on the power system.

A major theme of the opportunity is stakeholder and community alignment. DOE encourages applicants to build demonstrations that involve substantial local and regional engagement so the projects create benefits that are not only national (technology validation and leadership) but also tangible at the project location. The FOA signals that selected projects will be expected to carry out meaningful community engagement and labor engagement, with an emphasis on investing in the American workforce by creating good-paying jobs and supporting workers free and fair choice to join a union. It also highlights expectations around advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA).

The FOA explicitly ties project expectations to the Justice40 Initiative, meaning applicants should be prepared to describe how their projects will help deliver benefits to disadvantaged communities, with the broader federal target that 40% of the overall benefits of certain covered investments flow to those communities. For an LDES demonstration, those benefits could include local job creation and training pipelines, improved local grid resilience, reduced pollution from peaker plants if storage displaces them, economic development tied to construction and long-term operations, and community-informed planning that addresses local priorities and concerns.

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning any type of entity may apply (such as private companies, utilities, manufacturers, project developers, universities, national-lab partners, state and local governments, or consortia), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications provided in the full FOA. The key administrative dates provided indicate the FOA was created on November 15, 2022, with a required or strongly encouraged letter of intent due December 15, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. ET and full applications due March 3, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. ET. The authoritative requirements, definitions, and application instructions are contained in the full announcement hosted on DOE OCED Exchange at https://oced-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy, infrastructure investment and jobs act (iija) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW: LONG-DURATION ENERGY STORAGE DEMONSTRATIONS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.255.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 15, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 03, 2023 Submission Deadline for Letter of Intent 12/15/2022 500 p.m. ETSubmission Deadline for Full Applications 3/3/2023 500 p.m. ET. (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 $70,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 11 candidate(s).
• 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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