To bring microgrid solutions to underserved and Indigenous communities, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $14.7 million Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for multi-year research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of microgrid-related technologies. The goal is to bring microgrid solutions to underserved and Indigenous communities in remote, rural, and islanded regions in the United States. Programs such as this will ensure that low-cost reliable, resilient, clean energy is available to support and improve the lives of every American.

With this FOA, DOE’s Office of Electricity’s research partners will develop and demonstrate advanced microgrid-enabling technologies, including renewable generation and storage systems, multi-nodal small-scale high-voltage direct current, advanced demand-side management strategies, and microgrid control systems. The FOA also includes opportunities to address non-technical barriers to the deployment of microgrids in these communities, such as lack of local technical expertise and supply chain challenges.

“I recently had the opportunity to visit Alaska to learn about the unique needs of the state’s remote communities, and I saw firsthand how critical microgrids are to bringing reliable and resilient electric power to the people who live and work there,” said Gene Rodrigues, assistant secretary for Electricity. “This FOA is one important element of our commitment to meet Americans where they are and work with the local resources available to their communities.”

The FOA supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals to achieve or facilitate a carbon pollution-free electricity sector no later than 2035.

The FOA’s overall goals are:

• Promote microgrids as a core solution to increase grid resilience and reliability.
• Ensure that microgrids drive U.S. decarbonization goals by acting as a point of aggregation for a larger number of distributed energy resources.
• Decrease microgrid capital costs by 15% by 2031, while reducing project development, construction, and commissioning times by 20%.

The anticipated project period of performance is 24 months. Applicants must register at SAM.gov prior to applying. Learn more about OE’s work here.