The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released a $45 million funding opportunity to advance a comprehensive approach to tidal and current energy development in the United States.
Part of President Biden’s Invest in America Agenda and funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this opportunity will make the f irst large-scale investment in a tidal and/or current energy research, development, and demonstration site in the United States . It will also support a community-led tidal and/or current energy planning and development project.
Announced back in October 2022, the $35 million commitment for tidal energy development was deemed as the largest ever in the United States. It was later followed with an additional $10 million , announced in January 2023, to bring the total of $45 million available.
The funding opportunity will support projects in two topic areas focused on advancing the tidal and current energy industry toward commercialization for utility- and community-scale applications:
Topic area 1 will provide up to $35 million to support the development of a pilot tidal and/or current energy technology demonstration site in state waters, while the topic area 2 will allocate up to $10 million to support a community-led tidal and/or current energy planning and development project.
This funding opportunity is expected to encourage US leadership in tidal and current energy development, while also meeting community energy priorities and developing the sector’s supply chain and workforce.
The deadlines for concept papers are on June 5, 2023, for topic area 1 and on July 13, 2023, for topic area 2.
Applicants must submit a concept paper to be eligible to submit a full application. For topic 1, the submission deadline for full application has been set for July 25, while for the topic 2 the applications are due by October 19, 2023.