This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will advance the Biden Administration’s goals to achieve carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035 and to “deliver an equitable, clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050” to the benefit of all Americans. The research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities to be funded under this FOA will support the government-wide approach to the climate crisis by driving innovations that can lead to the large-scale deployment of clean energy technologies.

This FOA will fund research in three Topics Areas that develop technologies to address emerging challenges and enhance the benefits of variable renewable energy sources (VRE), inverter-based resources (IBR), and distributed energy resources (DER), in utility long-term planning activities and the daily operation of the grid. The new state-of-the-art planning and operations tools developed under this FOA will enable solar energy to be more optimally utilized over time and allow it to be utilized in place of traditional generation, providing Americans with more cheap and secure sources of clean energy.

Topic Area 1: System Planning Tools for Future Power Systems

This topic seeks to improve the long-term planning process of the bulk power grid by incorporating the unique features of VRE and new technologies that support VRE into the planning process.

Topic Area 2: Variability Management in Grid Operations

Projects funded under this topic area will develop tools for grid operators to optimally utilize and control IBR connected to the bulk power grid, as well as large numbers of DER, to achieve a more reliable and predictable grid with high penetrations of VRE.

Topic Area 3: Rapid System Health and Risk Assessment Tools for Grid Operators

This topic seeks to develop software tools, and the data systems that support them, for grid operators to identify emerging system risks that are driven by the faster dynamics and uncertain operating states of IBR.