Notice of Intent (NOI) to Issue Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office Funding Opportunity Announcement to Advance the National Clean Hydrogen Strategy | DE FOA 0003212

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003212

This Notice of Intent (NOI) signals that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and its Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office, plans to release a future funding opportunity announcement (FOA) focused on advancing the National Clean Hydrogen Strategy. The overall purpose is to accelerate research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDDandD) of clean hydrogen and fuel cell technologies so they can be adopted more widely across the economy, especially in places where cutting emissions is particularly difficult. The program is framed as a key piece of a broader clean energy portfolio that supports national goals such as carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and a net-zero economy by 2050, while also emphasizing benefits for communities across the country.

The planned FOA is expected to prioritize technical and deployment-related work that helps clean hydrogen scale in multiple sectors, with a notable emphasis on heavy-duty vehicles and other heavy-duty transportation uses. This includes supporting the kind of progress needed for hydrogen fueling corridor buildouts and other transportation decarbonization efforts described in the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization. The opportunity is meant to push forward practical advances that reduce real-world barriers to adoption, which typically include cost, performance, durability, infrastructure availability, and operational considerations for high-utilization fleets and industrial users.

A major theme is alignment with larger DOE hydrogen efforts already underway. The NOI explicitly ties the future FOA to DOE s Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) program, which is described as an 8 billion federal investment intended to create regional networks linking hydrogen producers, consumers, and connective infrastructure. In plain terms, the FOA is positioned as a way to strengthen the technologies and approaches that will make these hubs more viable over the long run, improve the odds of successful commercial-scale deployments, and help create the market conditions that drive costs down through learning and economies of scale. The NOI also highlights alignment with the H2@Scale initiative, which spans hydrogen production, transport, storage, and utilization across multiple sectors, and it reinforces DOE s Hydrogen Shot objective of driving clean hydrogen costs toward 1 per kilogram within about a decade.

Beyond core RDDandD, the NOI makes clear that the future FOA is also expected to support the practical enabling conditions for hydrogen deployment. That includes attention to safety and permitting support, which are often critical path issues for project timelines and community acceptance, as well as structured community engagement and the development of strategies to deliver meaningful community benefits. The notice stresses that hydrogen and fuel cell projects are expected to produce tangible local value, such as improved air quality, resilience benefits, and job creation, including good-paying union jobs. It also states that the anticipated FOA will encourage participation by underserved communities and underrepresented groups, reflecting DOE s broader equity and inclusive economic development commitments.

From an applicant standpoint, the NOI provides high-level program intent rather than final requirements. It explicitly states this is only a notice of intent and that all details may change: DOE may issue a FOA consistent with this description, issue a substantially different FOA, or decide not to issue one at all. DOE also notes it will not answer questions about the NOI itself; a formal Q and A path would come only after the FOA is officially released. Still, the notice encourages prospective applicants to begin preparing by building partnerships, shaping project concepts, and gathering supporting data ahead of the FOA publication, which it says was planned to be issued before or in January 2024 on the EERE Exchange website.

The source information included with the notice lists the opportunity as discretionary funding using cooperative agreements, indicating DOE anticipates substantial involvement during execution (common for technical demonstration and deployment programs). The administering office is shown as the Golden Field Office. Eligible applicants are broad and include state, county, and local governments; special districts; independent school districts; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status; individuals; for-profit entities (including those other than small businesses); and small businesses. The data also references an award ceiling of 30,000,000 and an expectation of about 30 awards, with a listed closing date of 2024-07-31, though the NOI language itself emphasizes that specifics are subject to change until the FOA is formally issued.

• The Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent (NOI) to Issue Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office Funding Opportunity Announcement to Advance the National Clean Hydrogen Strategy" 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 2024-07-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-07-31. (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 $30,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 30 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Individuals, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

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