SEEDING CRITICAL ADVANCES FOR LEADING ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES WITH UNTAPPED POTENTIAL 2021 | DE FOA 0002673

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002673

The Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy (ARPA-E) released the 2021 SCALEUP funding opportunity, formally titled "Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy Technologies with Untapped Potential 2021" (FOA number DE-FOA-0002673). The core idea is to help the most promising ARPA-E-backed technologies move past the typical stopping point that happens when an initial ARPA-E award ends. ARPA-E is known for supporting high-risk, high-reward applied research and development that can create entirely new "learning curves" rather than simply improving existing technologies in small steps. SCALEUP is meant to take technologies that already showed strong results under ARPA-E and fund the next stage: the difficult, pre-commercial work needed to prove they can scale, integrate into real-world systems, and plausibly be manufactured and deployed at competitive cost.

SCALEUP 2021 is designed to bridge the gap between successful proof-of-concept work and the level of validation that private investors, corporate partners, or later-stage funders typically require before committing serious capital. ARPA-E emphasizes that even after a technically strong project, significant risk often remains, and without additional support, technologies can get "stranded" before they reach market readiness. The FOA highlights the importance of pre-commercial scaling efforts (often called "pre-pilot" work in industry) that translate bench-scale performance to commercially scalable designs, generate longer-term performance and reliability data, validate manufacturability, and demonstrate integration with broader energy systems. In other words, the program is less about inventing the core concept and more about de-risking the pathway to a real product or deployable system.

A major motivation in the announcement is U.S. competitiveness. ARPA-E points out that when scaling does not happen domestically, intellectual property and early technical leadership developed with U.S. taxpayer support can become vulnerable to being picked up and advanced elsewhere, allowing foreign competitors to capture economic benefits tied to manufacturing and deployment. SCALEUP is positioned as a mechanism to keep momentum in the United States so that breakthroughs do not stall after early technical success, and so that domestic industry has a better chance of leading the next steps toward commercialization, job creation, and supply chain development.

The opportunity is issued under ARPA-E's congressional authority (42 U.S.C. 16538) and uses a cooperative agreement as the funding instrument, meaning ARPA-E typically expects substantial involvement during project execution compared to a more hands-off grant. The FOA falls under federal assistance rules in 2 CFR Part 200 (as supplemented by 2 CFR Part 910). Eligibility is listed as "unrestricted," meaning it is broadly open to many types of entities, subject to any additional eligibility language in the full FOA. The listing references CFDA 81.135 and categorizes the activity area in a way tied to "Opportunity Zone Benefits," though the practical meaning of that category depends on the details in the formal announcement.

In terms of logistics, applications had to be submitted through ARPA-E eXCHANGE, ARPA-E's required online portal, and ARPA-E stated it would not review or consider submissions sent by other means. Applicants were directed to retrieve the full Funding Opportunity Announcement from the ARPA-E FOA website and use the eXCHANGE user guide for submission instructions. Technical issues with eXCHANGE were routed to ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov (with the FOA name and number in the subject line). Program questions were handled through posted FAQs and, if unanswered, through ARPA-E-CO@hq.doe.gov. The FOA was created December 16, 2021, and the full application deadline was 9:30 AM ET on April 27, 2022, with a strong suggestion to submit at least 48 hours early.

Finally, the FOA clarifies how ARPA-E fits into the broader DOE funding landscape. ARPA-E focuses on applied R&D and experimental development aimed at practical outcomes and disruptive potential, rather than basic science for its own sake. For projects that are more incremental or aligned with established technology roadmaps, DOE's applied energy offices (like EERE, Fossil Energy, Nuclear Energy, and Electricity) may be a better fit, while truly basic research is typically directed to the DOE Office of Science. SCALEUP 2021 sits in a specific niche within ARPA-E itself: it complements ARPA-E's usual early-stage proof-of-concept focus by supporting the next, scale-up phase that can make or break whether a breakthrough becomes an investable, manufacturable, and ultimately deployable U.S. energy technology.

• The Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the opportunity zone benefits sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "SEEDING CRITICAL ADVANCES FOR LEADING ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES WITH UNTAPPED POTENTIAL 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 Dec 16, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 27, 2022 Submission Deadline for Full Applications to this FOA are due no later than 930 AM ET, April 27, 2022. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit at least 48 hours in advance of the due date.. (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 $100,000,000.00 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.

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