DOE issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to fund up to $1.8 billion for the design, construction, and operation of mid- and large-scale commercial direct air capture (DAC) facilities and infrastructure scaling platforms. This funding—made possible by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)—supports a broad range of promising DAC technologies on their path to commercialization and deployment that can spur the growth of additional DAC Hubs. As part of the Regional DAC Hubs program, this funding will help support an ecosystem of projects that aim to remove harmful legacy carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and meet President Biden and Vice President Harris’ ambitious clean energy and climate goals.

DAC is a process that separates CO2 from the air, helping to reduce legacy CO2 in the atmosphere. The separated CO2 can then be safely and permanently stored deep underground or converted into useful carbon-containing products like concrete that prevent its release back into the atmosphere. Widespread deployment of DAC and other innovative technologies that capture emissions are key to combatting the climate crisis and reinforcing America’s global competitiveness in the zero-carbon economy of the future. DOE estimates that reaching the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious plan for a net-zero carbon emissions economy will require that between 400 million and 1.8 billion metric tons of CO2 be removed from the atmosphere and captured from emissions sources annually by 2050. 

The anticipated funding announced today aims to provide potential applicants with flexible and comprehensive pathways to spur the development of commercial DAC facilities, including DAC facilities at mid- to large-scale along with supporting infrastructure, and expand to Regional DAC Hubs. OCED, in collaboration with the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, intends to offer funding in recurring openings across multiple years due to the rapidly advancing DAC field. This intentional flexibility in funding provides more opportunities to benefit from the latest generations of DAC technology and ensure the funding supports the highest-impact projects.

OCED anticipates offering funding in the following three topic areas:

• Topic Area 1: Funding 1-3 infrastructure scaling platforms, or host sites, to provide DAC developers with a place to build and operate facilities with access to clean energy and shared CO2 post-capture processing. Maximum of $250 million for a single project.
• Topic Area 2: Funding 4-8 mid-scale commercial DAC facilities with a capture capacity between 2,000 and 25,000 tons of CO2 per year. Maximum of $50 million for a single project.
• Topic Area 3: Funding 2-6 large-scale commercial DAC facilities with a minimum capture capacity of 25,000 tons of CO2 per year. Maximum of $600 million for a single project.

Projects in all topic areas will require a 50% minimum non-federal cost share.

In addition to funding for large-scale facilities, the anticipated funding would also support the development of Regional DAC Hubs by providing the DAC industry with more comprehensive support as it continues to commercialize new technologies. Funding for mid-scale capture facilities and complementary infrastructure platforms is a critical step to help earlier stage developers prove out their technology and business model before advancing to larger-scale demonstrations. While the majority of the program’s funding is envisioned for larger-scale facilities, the funding for mid-scale facilities and supporting platforms is planned to fill this critical gap by increasing the likelihood of success and impact of the anticipated four Regional DAC Hubs.

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of OCED’s intention to issue this NOFO in the near term. All the information contained in this Notice is subject to change.