• Institutions of higher education;
• For-profit organizations;
• Nonprofit organizations;
• States and local governments, and
• Indian Tribes, as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, 25 U.S.C. § 53041
The Regional Direct Air Capture Hubs Recurring Program (“the Program”)(comprising this initial Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and any subsequent re-openings and related solicitations) is designed to provide direct air capture (DAC) technology and project developers with support at various stages on their commercialization path towards the realization of four regional DAC hubs, building on the momentum and potential of projects selected under the first Funding Opportunity Announcement (“FOA-1”) (DE-FOA0002735), other DOE-supported initiatives, and privately funded activities.
The Program seeks to realize the potential of the diverse DAC technologies that have achieved or are approaching commercial readiness at or above Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 (as defined by DOE G 413.3-4A Technology Readiness Assessment Guide, 2011), while addressing the most critical Commercial Adoption Readiness Level (ARL) obstacles to their adoption and scaling.
The Program will support the DAC industry to achieve the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) goals of four regional 1,000,000 tonns per annum (TPA) hubs by funding three complementary project types: large-scale commercial DAC facilities (“LSCs,” Topic Area 3), mid-scale commercial DAC facilities (“MSCs,” Topic Area 2), and infrastructure access platforms for commercializing new DAC technologies (“IAPs,” Topic Area 1).
The objectives of the Program are to:
• Encourage the development and expansion of four regional DAC hubs by funding the large-scale demonstration facilities that will comprise those hubs
• Provide complementary support for DAC developers’ first commercial demonstration facilities as they advance to large scale, including facilitating access to reliable low carbon energy sources and CO2 storage or utilization
The Program is authorized under the Regional Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hubs Program (“Regional DAC Hubs”) (42 U.S.C. § 16298d(j)) established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The following entities are eligible to apply as recipients: (1) institutions of higher education; (2) for-profit organizations; (3) nonprofit organizations; (4) state and local governments; (5) and Indian Tribes. See the Applicant Eligibility Guidance on the Apply for Funding Opportunities page for details.
Funding Opportunity Number: DE-FOA-0003442
Concept Paper due: January 31, 2025, 11:59 pm ET
Pre-Application Submission due: January 31, 2025, 11:59 pm ET
Application due: July 31, 2025, 11:59 pm ET
Expected total available funding: up to $1,800,000,000, beginning in FY 2026
Expected number and type of awards:
Topic Area 1: 1 – 3 cooperative agreements or awards through the Department of Energy’s Other Transaction (OT) authority, each up to $250M Federal share
Topic Area 2: 4 – 8 cooperative agreements, each up to $50M Federal share
Topic Area 3: 2 – 6 cooperative agreements, each up to $600M Federal Share
Expected dollar amount of individual awards: Up to $600,000,000 (depending on Topic Area).
Expected award project period: The maximum expected project period of performance is 10 years; the scope of the proposed project would determine the specific project period
of performance within the maximum project period.
The cost share must be at least 50% of the total project costs for demonstration projects or a commercial application activity.