Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE): Site Characterization and Post-Combustion CO2 Capture Assessment | DE FOA 0002151

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002151

The Department of Energy, through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), released a Notice of Intent announcing that it planned to publish a future funding opportunity related to the Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) program, specifically focused on site characterization and post-combustion CO2 capture assessment. The notice is purely informational and was meant to alert potential applicants and stakeholders that a formal Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) was expected later, rather than to solicit applications, questions, or public input at this stage. The planned FOA referenced in the notice is DE-FOA-0001999, and DOE indicated it expected to post it on Grants.gov and FedConnect in the third quarter of calendar year 2019.

The anticipated technical scope of the forthcoming FOA was centered on three connected areas that are critical to developing carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects: (1) site characterization, meaning the geologic and subsurface work needed to evaluate whether a location can safely and effectively store large volumes of CO2; (2) CO2 capture assessment, with an emphasis on post-combustion capture, which generally refers to capturing CO2 from flue gas after fossil fuels or other carbon-containing fuels are burned (for example, at power plants or industrial facilities); and (3) permitting, which typically involves the regulatory pathway required to authorize injection and long-term storage of CO2, including documentation, monitoring plans, and compliance with applicable federal and state requirements. In practical terms, the notice signaled an intent to support work that reduces uncertainty around storage capacity, injectivity, containment, and overall storage readiness, while also examining how a post-combustion capture source could be paired with a storage site and moved through the permitting process.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity was categorized as a discretionary federal assistance action, with awards anticipated to be made using a cooperative agreement. A cooperative agreement usually implies substantial involvement by the federal agency during the project, such as active technical collaboration, milestone reviews, or shared decision-making on project direction. The funding activity category was listed as energy, under CFDA number 81.089, which is associated with DOE fossil energy and carbon management-related assistance programs. Eligibility was described as unrestricted, meaning it was open to any type of entity, subject to any additional eligibility clarifications that would appear in the full FOA when released.

The notice included basic tracking details that are common in federal listings, such as an opportunity number shown as DE-FOA-0002151 within the source data for the notice record, a creation date of July 22, 2019, and an original closing date of August 23, 2019. Importantly, that closing date did not function as an application deadline for funding because DOE explicitly stated that no applications would be accepted under the Notice of Intent. Instead, it served more like an administrative endpoint for the notice posting itself. The record also shows an award ceiling value of 3 (as written in the source data), but because this was only a notice and not the actual FOA, that figure should not be treated as a reliable statement of total available funding or award size; those specifics would normally be defined in the FOA. The listing also shows expected awards as 0, consistent with the fact that no awards could be made from a Notice of Intent.

Overall, the key takeaway is that this was an early heads-up from DOE/NETL about a forthcoming CarbonSAFE-related FOA expected in 2019, aimed at advancing the preparatory work required to bring carbon storage projects closer to deployment. It emphasized the front-end development steps that typically determine whether a CCS project can proceed: confirming a viable storage site through rigorous characterization, evaluating the feasibility of capturing CO2 from post-combustion sources, and navigating the permitting requirements needed to inject and store CO2 at scale.

• The Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE): Site Characterization and Post-Combustion CO2 Capture Assessment" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.089.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 22, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 23, 2019 This is a Notice of Intent to issue Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0001999. Applications will not be accepted for the Notice of Intent.. (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 $3.00 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 0002151

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