Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0003103 | DE FOA 0003189

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003189

This opportunity is a Notice of Intent (NOI) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) indicating that the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), through its Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), plans to release a forthcoming Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled "Strategies to Increase Hydropower Flexibility." In practical terms, the NOI is an early heads-up to the hydropower and grid-integration community that DOE expects to open a competitive funding solicitation focused on improving how hydropower resources can operate more flexibly, which generally means being able to respond more quickly and effectively to changing grid conditions and the growing presence of variable renewable energy like wind and solar. The NOI itself is not the full solicitation and does not contain final application requirements; it is meant to help potential applicants prepare, track the topic area, and watch for the official FOA release.

The issuing organization is DOE's Golden Field Office under EERE, with the programmatic lead identified as WPTO. The funding activity category is Energy, and the CFDA (assistance listing) number associated with the program is 81.087. The opportunity is listed as discretionary funding, and the instrument type is noted as "Other," which often signals that the final FOA may use one or more assistance mechanisms typical for DOE EERE competitions, but applicants should rely on the FOA for the definitive award type, cost share expectations, and compliance requirements.

Eligibility is described as "Unrestricted," meaning it is broadly open to any type of entity, with the important caveat that the final FOA may include clarifications or specific conditions in the official eligibility language. In other words, organizations across the spectrum (for example, private companies, universities, national labs, nonprofits, utilities, or state and local entities) should treat this as potentially open, but should still confirm eligibility once the FOA is published. DOE also states that it will not respond to questions about the NOI; an official question-and-answer process will only be provided after the FOA is released, which is a common practice intended to ensure that all applicants receive the same official information at the same time.

From the timeline fields provided, the NOI record shows a creation date of October 12, 2023, and an original closing date of April 10, 2024. Because this posting is explicitly an NOI and "all the information contained in this NOI is subject to change," those dates should be interpreted cautiously. The single most important action item for interested applicants is to monitor the EERE Exchange website (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov), where DOE will post the full FOA, any amendments, deadlines, webinars, and the official mechanism for submitting questions.

Several of the listed data fields reinforce that this is a pre-solicitation notice rather than an active funding competition. For example, the "ExpectedAwards" value is shown as 0, which is consistent with an NOI that is not yet making awards. The "AwardCeiling" field is shown as 1, but without context this number is not meaningful for planning purposes and should not be treated as a true cap on potential project funding; the FOA will be the authoritative source for funding levels, anticipated number of awards, topic areas, performance periods, and technical deliverables.

Overall, the key takeaway is that DOE EERE WPTO is signaling an upcoming competitive funding opportunity centered on strategies that increase hydropower flexibility. Anyone interested in submitting an application should use the NOI period to track partners, refine potential concepts (for example, operational strategies, controls, grid services, or other approaches that improve flexible operation), and prepare to move quickly once the official FOA is posted on EERE Exchange, since only the released FOA will define what DOE is actually seeking, how proposals will be evaluated, and how submissions must be prepared and submitted.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0003103" 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 Oct 12, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 10, 2024. (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 $1.00 in funding.
• 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.

Apply for DE FOA 0003189

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