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BIL Storage, Validation and Testing (Section 40305): Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE): Phases II, III, III.5, and IV

Open Date:

12/13/2023

Close Date:

3/20/2024

Upcoming Milestones:

The closing date has been extended to 03/20/2024 at 5:00 pm ET.

Eligible Recipients:

  • Educational Institutions
  • General Public
  • Local Governments
  • Native/Tribal Entities
  • Non-profits
  • Private Sector
  • State Governments

Program Purpose:

  • Energy Infrastructure

Reserved for Energy
Communities?

No

Bureau/Office

Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)

Funded by:

U.S. Department of Energy

Overview

The overall objective of this FOA is to accelerate the development of new or expanded commercial-scale geologic carbon storage projects and associated CO2 transport infrastructure, through a focus on detailed site characterization, permitting, and construction stages of project development. This FOA is expected to remain open for five years to facilitate expeditious development of secure geologic carbon storage facilities. As required by BIL, the selection process will give priority to projects with substantial CO2 storage capacity and projects that will store CO2 from multiple carbon capture facilities.

This FOA is for CarbonSAFE Phase II: Storage Complex Feasibility, CarbonSAFE Phase III: Site Characterization and Permitting, and CarbonSAFE Phase IV: Construction with the following Areas of Interest (AOIs):

  • AOI 1—CarbonSAFE Phase III: Site Characterization and Permitting
  • AOI 2—CarbonSAFE Phase III.5: NEPA, FEED Studies, and Storage Field Development Plan Only
  • AOI 3—CarbonSAFE Phase IV: Construction
  • AOI 4—CarbonSAFE Phase II: Storage Complex Feasibility

Successful implementation of the CarbonSAFE Initiative will encourage the rapid growth of a vibrant, geographically widespread industry for secure geologic carbon storage by reducing risks and costs for future projects and bringing more storage resources into commercial classifications, thereby supporting business and financial decisions of potential developers. As such, DOE seeks proposals for projects that will transition into commercial storage complexes, resulting in key requirements such as Class VI permits, final investment decisions, site construction, and CO2 offtake agreements.

The CarbonSAFE Initiative includes the following phases:

  • Phase I—Integrated CCUS PreFeasibility,
  • Phase II—Storage Complex Feasibility,
  • Phase III—Site Characterization and Permitting, and
  • Phase IV—Permitting and Site Construction.

DE-FOA-0001584 (Phase I) and DE-FOA-0001450 (Phase II) were released in 2016 and 2017, resulting in the award of thirteen Phase I projects and six Phase II projects, respectively. DE-FOA-0001999 (Phase III) was released in 2019, resulting in the award of five Phase III projects. DE-FOA0002610 (Phase II) was released in 2022, resulting in selection of eleven Phase II projects. DE-FOA-0002711 was released in 2023, resulting in nine Phase II projects and sixteen Phase III Projects.

The structure of the CarbonSAFE Initiative (traditionally funded using annual appropriations) has been modified to more effectively use the CarbonSAFE Initiative phases for both the Carbon Transport and Storage Program and BIL provision 40305. This will ultimately accelerate projects through commercial development to final construction. Applicants are not required to have a CarbonSAFE award to apply to the next phase. Applicants can apply for any phase that they are ready for and can demonstrate that they have completed a previous phase effort on their own. As modified, the CarbonSAFE Initiative involves:

  • Phase I: Integrated CCUS Pre-Feasibility
  • Phase II: Storage Complex Feasibility (FOA 2711 Area of Interest 4 funded by BIL)
  • Phase III: Site Characterization and Permitting (FOA 2711 funded by BIL)
  • Phase III.5: NEPA, FEED Studies, and Storage Field Development Plan Only (FOA 2711 funded by BIL)
  • Phase IV: Construction (FOA 2711 funded by BIL)

New and expanded carbon storage projects will be needed to provide future access to billions of metric tons of commercially available secure geologic storage capacity and enable injection of up to 100 million metric tons per year by 2030. It is anticipated that these projects will be located in different regions of the country with promising geologic characteristics to store at least 50 million metric tons of CO2 per site, providing new jobs in communities throughout the United States. Projects will be required to follow a consistent approach to estimate storage quantities, moving carbon storage capacity from prospective through contingent storage resources to capacity, as classified under the CO2 Storage Resources Management System (SRMS), see https://www.spe.org/industry/docs/SRMS.pdf).

This FOA aims to advance the nation’s prospective resources to contingent status and contingent storage resources to capacity status as projects advance along the pathway toward commerciality.

Related Resources

Funding Details

Funding Source:
Funding Type:
Grant - no match
Total Amount Available:
$2,250,000,000
Limit per Applicant:
$195,000,000
Estimated Awards:
70

Applicant Guidance

Contact Information

Carla J. Winaught, 304-285-4530, [email protected]

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