Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001663
The Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology Development and Advancement funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0001663) was a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) solicitation issued by the Golden Field Office under the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), specifically its Marine and Hydrokinetic (MHK) sub-program. The program’s core goal was to accelerate research, testing, and development of innovative technologies that can generate renewable electricity from U.S. water resources in a way that is environmentally responsible and cost-effective. In practical terms, it focused on technologies that capture energy from waves and from moving water currents, including ocean, tidal, and river currents. The full announcement and submission process were handled through the EERE Exchange platform.
A central theme of the opportunity was moving MHK technologies closer to real-world deployment and commercial viability. DOE emphasized two market pathways: near-term early-adopter markets and longer-term utility scale markets. Early-adopter markets generally refer to places where energy is unusually expensive or difficult to supply (for example, remote or islanded coastal communities), making emerging wave or current technologies potentially competitive sooner. At the same time, the FOA also sought next-generation concepts that could ultimately compete on cost with established large-scale power generation options in broader utility markets. Applicants were therefore expected to frame their work around economic competitiveness, whether that meant demonstrating a credible path to near-term adoption or pursuing breakthroughs that could reduce costs and improve performance at scale over time.
The FOA solicited projects under two topic areas. Topic Area 1, Wave Energy Converters System Advancement, targeted the progression of wave energy converter (WEC) designs from prototypes toward integrated, full-system solutions. This implies a focus on advancing beyond component-level or early prototype demonstrations and addressing the practical engineering and system-level challenges that come with deploying an operational device, such as overall system design maturity, reliability, performance in realistic conditions, and readiness for testing or pilot deployment. The intent was to help close the gap between experimental WEC concepts and robust systems that can operate effectively in the ocean environment.
Topic Area 2, Open Topic MHK Technology Development, was broader by design and aimed to encourage innovative ideas that could significantly advance MHK technology and the overall state of the industry. Because it was an open topic, it allowed applicants to propose a range of novel approaches across wave and current energy, including enabling technologies, new device concepts, subsystem innovations, testing methods, or other advancements that could materially improve performance, survivability, environmental compatibility, or cost. The key requirement was that the proposed work had the potential to meaningfully move the sector forward rather than incrementally improve existing approaches.
From an administrative standpoint, this was a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement mechanism, which typically indicates more substantial DOE involvement during project execution compared to a traditional grant. Eligibility was listed as unrestricted, meaning it was broadly open to many entity types (such as companies, universities, nonprofits, and other organizations), subject to any additional constraints or clarifications contained in the full FOA text. The opportunity was tied to CFDA number 81.087 and fell under the energy funding activity category.
Key dates and award parameters were clearly defined. The FOA was created on December 15, 2016, required concept papers by January 17, 2017, and had a full application deadline of March 1, 2017 (the original closing date). DOE anticipated making about six awards, with an award ceiling of up to $5,000,000 per award. Overall, the opportunity was structured to fund a small number of relatively substantial projects intended to push MHK technologies along the development pipeline, from advanced prototypes toward deployable systems and from promising ideas toward transformative innovations that could strengthen the U.S. marine energy industry.Apply for DE FOA 0001663
- The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology Development and Advancement" 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 Dec 15, 2016.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 01, 2017. (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 $5,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 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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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology Development and Advancement (DE-FOA-0001663)
1) What is this funding opportunity?
The Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology Development and Advancement funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0001663) was a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) solicitation issued by the Golden Field Office under the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), specifically its Marine and Hydrokinetic (MHK) sub-program.
2) What was the main goal of DE-FOA-0001663?
The core goal was to accelerate research, testing, and development of innovative technologies that can generate renewable electricity from U.S. water resources in a way that is environmentally responsible and cost-effective.
3) What types of energy resources and technologies did the FOA focus on?
The FOA focused on marine and hydrokinetic technologies that capture energy from waves and from moving water currents, including ocean currents, tidal currents, and river currents.
4) Which DOE office and program managed this opportunity?
The opportunity was managed under DOE's Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), within its Marine and Hydrokinetic (MHK) sub-program, and was issued by DOE's Golden Field Office.
5) Where were the full announcement and submissions handled?
The full announcement and the submission process were handled through the EERE Exchange platform.
6) What was the overarching theme or emphasis of the solicitation?
A central theme was moving MHK technologies closer to real-world deployment and commercial viability, not just early research or isolated component work.
7) How did DOE describe the market pathways for MHK technologies in this FOA?
DOE emphasized two market pathways: (1) near-term early-adopter markets and (2) longer-term utility-scale markets.
8) What are "early-adopter markets" in the context of this FOA?
Early-adopter markets generally refer to locations where energy is unusually expensive or difficult to supply, such as remote or islanded coastal communities, where emerging wave or current technologies may become competitive sooner.
9) What does "utility-scale markets" mean in the context of this FOA?
Utility-scale markets refer to broader, large-scale electricity markets where technologies typically need to compete on cost and performance with established large-scale power generation options.
10) What did DOE expect applicants to address regarding economic competitiveness?
Applicants were expected to frame their work around economic competitiveness by either demonstrating a credible path to near-term adoption in early-adopter markets or pursuing breakthroughs aimed at reducing costs and improving performance at scale over time.
11) How many topic areas were included in the FOA?
The FOA solicited projects under two topic areas.
12) What was Topic Area 1?
Topic Area 1 was Wave Energy Converters System Advancement.
13) What kinds of projects fit Topic Area 1 (Wave Energy Converters System Advancement)?
Topic Area 1 targeted the progression of wave energy converter (WEC) designs from prototypes toward integrated, full-system solutions. The focus was on advancing beyond component-level or early prototype demonstrations and addressing system-level and practical engineering challenges associated with operating in realistic ocean conditions.
14) What types of challenges did Topic Area 1 imply applicants should address?
It implied applicants should address overall system design maturity, reliability, performance in realistic conditions, and readiness for testing or pilot deployment, with the intent of closing the gap between experimental WEC concepts and robust operational systems.
15) What was Topic Area 2?
Topic Area 2 was Open Topic MHK Technology Development.
16) What kinds of projects fit Topic Area 2 (Open Topic MHK Technology Development)?
Topic Area 2 was broader and designed to encourage innovative ideas across wave and current energy. It allowed proposals for new device concepts, enabling technologies, subsystem innovations, testing methods, or other advancements that could materially improve performance, survivability, environmental compatibility, or cost.
17) What distinguished Topic Area 2 from incremental improvements?
The key requirement was that the proposed work had the potential to meaningfully move the sector forward rather than merely making incremental improvements to existing approaches.
18) What type of funding mechanism was used?
This was a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement mechanism.
19) What does it mean that the award mechanism was a cooperative agreement?
A cooperative agreement mechanism typically indicates more substantial DOE involvement during project execution compared to a traditional grant.
20) Who was eligible to apply?
Eligibility was listed as unrestricted, meaning it was broadly open to many entity types (for example, companies, universities, nonprofits, and other organizations), subject to any additional constraints or clarifications contained in the full FOA text.
21) What CFDA number was associated with this opportunity?
The opportunity was tied to CFDA number 81.087.
22) What funding activity category did this fall under?
It fell under the energy funding activity category.
23) When was the FOA created?
The FOA was created on December 15, 2016.
24) Was there a concept paper requirement? If so, when was it due?
Yes. Concept papers were required by January 17, 2017.
25) When was the full application due?
The full application deadline was March 1, 2017 (the original closing date).
26) About how many awards did DOE anticipate making?
DOE anticipated making about six awards.
27) What was the maximum award size (award ceiling)?
The award ceiling was up to $5,000,000 per award.
28) What was the overall intent behind the size and structure of the awards?
The structure supported a small number of relatively substantial projects intended to push MHK technologies along the development pipeline, from advanced prototypes toward deployable systems and from promising ideas toward transformative innovations.
29) What kinds of outcomes was DOE trying to enable through this FOA?
DOE aimed to strengthen the U.S. marine energy industry by supporting projects that advance deployable wave and current energy technologies and that improve the prospects for commercial viability in both early-adopter and utility-scale markets.
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