This funding opportunity seeks to advance DOE’s goals and commitment to pushing the frontiers of science and engineering and catalyzing clean energy jobs through research, development, demonstration, and deployment by enabling affordable clean hydrogen and fuel cell technologies for a sustainable, resilient, and equitable net-zero emissions economy. The activities to be funded under this funding opportunity support:

• The U.S. National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap's "whole-of-government" approach to addressing the challenges facing clean hydrogen and drive innovation leading to the deployment of clean energy technologies that are critical for emissions reduction.
• Enabling increased adoption of clean hydrogen across critical sectors, including heavy-duty vehicles, supporting the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization.
• The goals of the Hydrogen Energy Earthshot targeting affordable, clean hydrogen production at $1/kg by 2031.
• The H2@Scale Initiative aiming to advance affordable hydrogen production, transport, storage, and utilization to enable decarbonization and revenue opportunities across multiple sectors.

Funding opportunity topics include:

• Topic 1: Photoelectrochemical (PEC) Water Splitting Device Scale Up – This topic seeks proposals to develop and demonstrate PEC water splitting devices using low-cost, scalable synthesis and fabrication techniques.
• Topic 2: High-Performance Materials for Hydrogen Service, Including Cryogenic and/or High-Pressure Conditions – This topic seeks proposals to develop advanced materials for use in high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks, cryogenic service conditions, and fiber reinforced polymer hydrogen pipelines.
• Topic 3: Sustainable High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membranes and Ionomers for Heavy-Duty Transportation Applications – This topic seeks proposals to develop membranes and ionomers (key components of fuel cells) suitable for high-temperature operation (up to 120°C) in heavy-duty fuel cell transportation applications, without the use of perfluorosulfonic acid.
• Topic 4: Domestic Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Motorcoach Bus Development and Demonstration – This topic seeks proposals to develop and demonstrate domestically produced fuel cell electric motorcoach buses suitable for long-haul service.

For all topic areas, DOE envisions financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements with periods of performance ranging from approximately two to four years. DOE encourages applicant teams that include stakeholders within academia, industry, and national laboratories across multiple technical disciplines. Teams are also encouraged to include representation from diverse entities such as minority-serving institutions.