Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office Funding Opportunity Announcement in Support of Hydrogen Shot | DE FOA 0002920

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002920

The Department of Energy, through its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and specifically the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO), released Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002920 to fund research, development, and demonstration work that accelerates clean hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The opportunity is framed around DOE-wide hydrogen priorities laid out in the DOE Hydrogen Program Plan and is positioned as a practical funding mechanism to move the National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap from planning into measurable technical progress. The central idea is to support projects that help clean hydrogen become easier to produce, move, store, and use at scale, so it can contribute meaningfully to economy-wide decarbonization.

A key driver behind the FOA is DOE's Hydrogen Shot, which sets an aggressive cost target: bringing the cost of clean hydrogen down to about $1 per kilogram within about a decade. The solicitation connects that cost goal to broader federal climate and energy targets, including achieving carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the U.S. economy by no later than 2050. In practice, that means DOE is looking for technology advances and demonstrations that can remove real-world barriers to adoption, reduce costs, and improve performance and reliability across the hydrogen value chain, not just early-stage lab research that is difficult to commercialize.

The FOA also explicitly ties the work to the H2@Scale initiative, which is DOE's push to expand hydrogen use across multiple sectors while creating revenue opportunities and emissions reductions at the same time. This includes enabling hydrogen as a decarbonization tool in areas where electrification alone can be challenging, while also supporting infrastructure and market development that make hydrogen more practical for industry and communities. Although the notice does not list every topic area in the text provided, HFTO FOAs under the Hydrogen Shot umbrella generally emphasize solutions that can be validated beyond theory, including integrated approaches that consider production, delivery, storage, and end use as a connected system.

Equity and environmental justice are not side notes in this announcement; they are part of the stated purpose. DOE emphasizes inclusion of underserved communities and signals that projects should be conceived and executed in ways that broaden access to the benefits of clean energy investment. The FOA language highlights job creation through research, development, demonstration, and deployment activities, and it presents clean hydrogen innovation as both a climate strategy and an economic development strategy. Applicants should expect that community impact, workforce considerations, and responsible deployment pathways are relevant to how projects are evaluated, especially when demonstrations or pilots could affect local regions.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary funding opportunity using cooperative agreements, which typically means substantial federal involvement during the project period compared with a standard grant. The issuing agency is the Department of Energy, Golden Field Office. The CFDA listing is 81.087 (energy-related financial assistance). The opportunity was created on January 27, 2023, with an original closing date of April 28, 2023. DOE anticipated making about 22 awards, with an award ceiling of $6,000,000 per award, indicating an intent to fund multiple projects at meaningful scale rather than a small number of very large awards.

Eligibility is broad and includes most major applicant types: 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 (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)); individuals; for-profit organizations (including those other than small businesses); and small businesses, with a catch-all category for other eligible entities as clarified in the full FOA. This wide eligibility range suggests DOE is encouraging partnerships that combine universities, industry, public agencies, and community-oriented organizations, which is often important for hydrogen projects that need both technical validation and real-world deployment settings.

Overall, the opportunity is designed to push hydrogen and fuel cell technologies closer to large-scale, affordable, and widely deployable solutions, with a particular emphasis on cost reduction aligned to the $1/kg Hydrogen Shot target and on demonstrations that can speed market adoption. The full announcement and detailed requirements, including specific topic areas, application components, cost share expectations (if applicable), and evaluation criteria, are provided through EERE Exchange at the link referenced in the notice (https://eere-exchange.energy.go).

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office Funding Opportunity Announcement in Support of Hydrogen Shot" 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 Jan 27, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 28, 2023. (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 $6,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 22 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, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for DE FOA 0002920

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: