The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) announced the Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power (CSP) Fiscal Year 2022 Research, Development, and Demonstration funding program, which will award up to $25 million for innovative research and development projects in CSP technologies. These projects will accelerate the large-scale development and deployment of solar technologies. CSP technologies offer value as renewable energy resources that can deliver high-temperature solar heat on demand due to simple integration with thermal energy storage.
This funding opportunity is designed to help decarbonize the energy sector by developing CSP technologies for carbon-free industrial processes in the United States and next-generation plant designs that will operate at high efficiency with low-cost thermal storage. Projects supported by this opportunity will focus on lowering the cost of CSP technologies and creating new market opportunities for the industry, with the goal of enabling substantial deployment of CSP to decarbonize the electricity grid and energy system. These projects will work to apply CSP to new industries and advance the development of components for next-generation CSP systems based on solid particle heat transfer media.
SETO expects to make about 8 to 15 awards, each ranging between $750,000 and $6 million. Diverse teams from universities, federally funded research and development centers, nonprofit and for-profit companies, community-based organizations, state agencies and local governments are encouraged to apply.
Prior to submitting a full application for this opportunity, a concept paper is due on March 16 at 5:00 p.m. EST.
Webinar
SETO will host an informational webinar on February 24 at 2:00 p.m. EST to discuss the funding program and the areas of focus. Register for the webinar.
Learn more about this funding opportunity and other open funding opportunities within DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) please visit EERE’s Funding Opportunities page.
