Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002956

The funding opportunity titled "Advancing Technology Development for Securing a Domestic Supply of Critical Minerals and Materials (CMM)" (Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0002956) is a discretionary federal grant competition run by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) focused on strengthening the United States domestic supply of critical minerals and materials. It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which typically means projects are expected to involve substantial federal involvement during execution compared with a standard grant, often through collaboration, regular technical engagement, and defined project milestones.

At a high level, the program is designed to push critical minerals and materials technologies further along the development pathway, with an emphasis on moving beyond early concepts and toward practical, scalable, and economically viable systems. The FOA highlights four connected objectives. First, it aims to continue advancing technology development for CMM, including the development and validation of new and advanced recovery concepts. Second, it emphasizes expanding and improving process systems development, optimization, and efficiency, which points to a strong interest in integrated process design, process control improvements, throughput and yield gains, and reductions in energy, water, and reagent use. Third, it explicitly targets improved economic feasibility, aiming to bring production costs into alignment with current market sectors, signaling that proposals should not only demonstrate technical performance but also show a credible pathway to competitive cost structures and real-world adoption. Fourth, it prioritizes the ability to produce critical minerals and materials from multiple and diverse feedstocks, including recycled materials, reinforcing an all-of-the-above sourcing approach that can include primary resources, secondary resources, and circular economy inputs.

In terms of funding profile and competitiveness, the award ceiling is $3,750,000 per award, with an estimated 10 awards expected. The opportunity sits under the Energy funding activity category and lists CFDA number 81.089. Eligible applicants are listed as unrestricted, which typically indicates a broad applicant pool may apply (for example, companies, universities, nonprofits, and other organizations, subject to the standard federal eligibility and compliance requirements in the full announcement). The original closing date is November 26, 2024, and the opportunity was created on September 25, 2024, giving applicants a defined window to assemble technical, management, and cost documentation.

Overall, this FOA is best understood as a technology maturation and process-integration push for critical minerals and materials, with a clear preference for projects that combine technical innovation with realistic process engineering and cost discipline. Strong applications would be expected to connect lab or pilot-scale advances to end-to-end process performance, demonstrate improvements in efficiency and recoveries, and make a persuasive case that the resulting product streams can be produced at costs that match market realities, while also expanding domestic resilience by drawing from diverse sources, including recycling and other non-traditional feedstocks.

  • The National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Advancing Technology Development for Securing a Domestic Supply of Critical Minerals and Materials (CMM)" and is now available to receive applicants.
  • Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.089.
  • This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-25.
  • Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-11-26. (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 $3,750,000.00 in funding.
  • The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
  • Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.
Apply for DE FOA 0002956

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