U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has provided $33 million in funding to support innovative hydrogen and fuel cell research & development (R&D), infrastructure supply chain development and validation, and cost analysis activities.

This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) builds upon existing efforts funded by DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office to reduce cost, improve performance, and strengthen a domestic supply chain for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies and applications.

Activities that result from this FOA will support the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE’s) H2@Scale vision and leverage capabilities at DOE National Labs through close collaboration with the Million Mile Fuel Cell Truck (M2FCT) and H2NEW consortia.

FOA topics include R&D in:

• Fuel cells for heavy-duty trucks in coordination with the M2FCT consortium.
• Hydrogen production through high-temperature (high-T) water splitting (electrolysis) in coordination with the H2NEW consortium, as well as biological processes that use waste.
• Domestic manufacturing of high-T electrolyzers and related components.

Additional topics include infrastructure R&D to validate hydrogen refueling models, and to develop supply chain components to enable high throughput fueling for hydrogen stations that serve heavy-duty applications.

The FOA also seeks projects conducting independent cost analyses of hydrogen production, storage, and fuel cell technologies.

The application process will include two phases: a concept paper and a full application. Concept papers are due on January 15, 2021, and full applications are due on March 8, 2021.