OPEN 2021 | DE FOA 0002459

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002459

OPEN 2021 (DE-FOA-0002459) is the Department of Energy ARPA-E s fifth OPEN solicitation, designed to fund high-risk, high-reward energy research and development that is still too early for typical private investment but has a plausible path to becoming a disruptive technology. ARPA-E was created by Congress under the America COMPETES Acts to strengthen U.S. economic and energy security by advancing technologies that can reduce reliance on imported energy, cut energy-related emissions (including greenhouse gases), and improve energy efficiency across the economy, while also helping the United States maintain technological leadership in advanced energy innovation. Awards under this announcement are made under federal assistance rules (including 2 CFR Part 200 as supplemented by 2 CFR Part 910), and the agency generally uses instruments such as cooperative agreements, grants, and other assistance mechanisms.

The defining feature of the OPEN program is breadth. Unlike ARPA-E focused program FOAs that target a specific technology area with predefined technical milestones and aggressive performance targets, OPEN intentionally casts a wide net across the full spectrum of energy technologies and applications. It exists to catch strong ideas that do not fit neatly inside current focused solicitations, or that emerge after those focused program windows have closed. ARPA-E also uses OPEN to "take the pulse" of the energy R&D community and identify new directions worth pursuing. Historically, OPEN has been a significant pipeline for impactful projects; ARPA-E notes that roughly one-third of the agency s highlighted success stories in its Impact volumes originated from OPEN solicitations, underscoring that this mechanism is not secondary funding but a core channel for novel, cross-cutting ideas.

In terms of technical scope, OPEN 2021 invites early-stage but potentially transformational R&D in both transportation and stationary energy domains. The FOA indicates interest areas that include, but are not limited to: electricity generation (conventional and renewable), transmission, storage, and distribution; energy efficiency in buildings, manufacturing, commercial operations, and personal use; and transportation in a broad sense, including fuel production and distribution (renewable and non-renewable), electrification, and transportation efficiency. Because the topics are so diverse, ARPA-E does not provide a single set of program-style technical targets. Instead, applicants are expected to build the case for impact themselves and directly connect their proposed work to one or more ARPA-E mission outcomes (imports, emissions, efficiency).

A major theme of the solicitation is the applicant s responsibility to answer a simple but demanding question: "If it works, will it matter?" In a focused program, ARPA-E has already done much of that framing by defining what success looks like and why it would be consequential. Under OPEN, the burden shifts to the project team to justify why the proposed technology could materially change energy outcomes. That typically means making a clear argument about the size of the addressable problem, the magnitude of the potential improvement versus today s solutions, why the approach could succeed where others have not, and what a credible development path looks like over the project period. In practice, proposals that fit OPEN well tend to pair technical novelty with a disciplined explanation of how modest, time-bounded federal investment can unlock a step change and de-risk a future transition toward commercialization or follow-on development.

From an applicant and administrative standpoint, eligibility is broadly open (listed as unrestricted, meaning any entity type may apply subject to any additional FOA clarifications). The FOA was posted February 11, 2021, with a concept paper deadline of April 6, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and applicants were encouraged to submit at least 48 hours early. The opportunity listed an award ceiling of $10,000,000 and anticipated roughly 50 awards, signaling that ARPA-E expected a sizeable cohort of projects but with the potential for substantial individual awards where the technical case and impact justify it. The CFDA number associated with the opportunity is 81.135, and the activity category is science and technology and other research and development (also tagged with Opportunity Zone Benefits in the listing).

Operationally, ARPA-E requires that applicants access the full Funding Opportunity Announcement through the ARPA-E FOA site and submit materials through the ARPA-E eXCHANGE system only; concept papers sent by other methods are not reviewed. The agency points applicants to the ARPA-E eXCHANGE User Guide for step-by-step submission instructions. For technical issues with the submission portal, the contact is ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with the FOA name and number in the subject line). For program and FOA questions, applicants are directed first to the ARPA-E FAQ page and then to ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov for items not already addressed.

Overall, OPEN 2021 is best understood as ARPA-E s periodic, agency-wide call for bold energy ideas: a funding pathway for unconventional, cross-disciplinary, or newly emerging approaches that can credibly promise outsized impact on U.S. energy security, emissions, and efficiency, provided the project team can persuasively demonstrate that the technology will matter if it succeeds and can be meaningfully advanced within the ARPA-E project framework.

• The Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the opportunity zone benefits, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OPEN 2021" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.135.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 11, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 06, 2021 The Submission Deadline for Concept Papers is April 6, 2021 at 930 a.m. ET. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit 48 hours in advance of the deadline.. (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 $10,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 50 candidate(s).
• 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 0002459

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