The U.S. Department of Energy announced $40 million in funding to advance the development and deployment of clean hydrogen technologies. In a related move, DOE also launched a $20 million university research consortium to help states and Tribal communities implement grid resilience programs and achieve decarbonization goals.

This funding opportunity is intended to advance DOE’s Hydrogen Shot goal of reducing the cost of clean hydrogen to $1 per 1 kilogram in a decade (the so-called “1 1 1” goal), while supporting DOE’s H2@Scale initiative, which aims to advance the affordable production, transport, storage, and use of clean hydrogen.

Topic areas include projects that will develop technologies for solar fuels created by harvesting sunlight, improve hydrogen-emissions detection and monitoring, demonstrate higher-density and lower-pressure hydrogen storage technologies, and lower the costs and enhance the durability of hydrogen fuel cells for medium- and heavy-duty transportation applications.

DOE said it envisions multiple financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements, with the period of performance being roughly two to four years. DOE said it encourages applicant teams that include academia, industry, and national laboratories across multiple technical disciplines.

The Hydrogen Shot and University Research Consortium Grid Resilience FOA also provides three-year funding for a university consortium focused on developing a decarbonized and more resilient electrical power system in coordination with universities in Mexico and Canada. DOE said this approach would be “critical to addressing cross-border grid dependencies” and electrical interconnections throughout region.

The application process for both the clean hydrogen FOA and University Consortium funding is expected to include two phases: a concept paper and a full application. Concept papers are due on September 23. Full applications are due on December 1. More information is available here.