Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE): Site Characterization and CO2 Capture Assessment | DE FOA 0001999

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001999

The Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE): Site Characterization and CO2 Capture Assessment funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number DE FOA 0001999) is a U.S. Department of Energy program administered by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) designed to speed up the real-world deployment of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) in the United States. In practical terms, the opportunity focuses on reducing key uncertainties that slow down CCUS projects, especially the questions investors, regulators, and communities tend to ask first: whether a proposed storage site can safely and reliably hold very large volumes of CO2 over long time periods, and whether the CO2 being captured can be produced at the purity and conditions needed for transport and storage at a cost that makes commercial projects viable.

The central objective of the FOA is to accelerate wide-scale CCUS by supporting work that assesses and verifies safe and cost-effective, commercial-scale geologic storage sites for anthropogenic CO2, along with evaluations of carbon capture and/or CO2 purification technologies. "Anthropogenic" here means CO2 originating from human activities such as power generation, industrial facilities, and other large stationary sources. The emphasis on "commercial-scale storage" signals that the work is meant to move beyond small demonstrations and toward sites capable of storing large quantities of CO2 at scales relevant to full projects, which typically require robust geologic characterization, risk assessment, and monitoring plans. At the same time, the capture and purification assessment component recognizes that storage projects depend on a dependable stream of CO2 that meets specifications for pipeline transport and injection, so the FOA supports work that improves confidence in capture system performance and CO2 quality.

The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and is expected to be issued as a cooperative agreement, which typically means substantial involvement by DOE/NETL during the project. That structure is commonly used when the agency expects ongoing technical collaboration, milestone reviews, and coordination to ensure the project is aligned with federal program goals, data quality standards, and broader deployment needs. The funding activity category is Energy, and the CFDA number listed is 81.089, which is commonly associated with DOE fossil energy and carbon management related financial assistance programs.

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning the FOA is broadly open to many applicant types (for example, private companies, universities, nonprofits, state and local governments, and potentially others), subject to any clarifications in the full announcement under additional eligibility language. This open eligibility aligns with the nature of CCUS development, which often requires partnerships across emitters, technology providers, geologic storage developers, research institutions, and sometimes public entities involved in permitting and infrastructure planning.

In terms of funding scale, the FOA indicates an award ceiling of up to $35,000,000 per award and anticipates making approximately two awards. That combination suggests DOE intended to support a small number of relatively large, high-impact projects rather than many small studies. Projects at this scale are consistent with detailed site characterization programs, which can involve extensive subsurface data acquisition and interpretation, and with meaningful capture/purification assessments that can require engineering, testing, and integration planning to demonstrate readiness for commercial deployment.

The FOA was created on September 12, 2019, with an original closing date of January 15, 2020, while also noting that applicants should rely on the full FOA for the authoritative application due-date instructions. Overall, the opportunity fits into DOE's broader strategy to de-risk CCUS by generating the technical evidence needed to move projects through development gates, including confirming that storage reservoirs and seals are suitable, identifying and managing potential leakage pathways and induced seismicity risks, planning monitoring and verification approaches, and ensuring capture and purification pathways can deliver a reliable CO2 supply that meets operational and regulatory needs.

• The Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE): Site Characterization and CO2 Capture Assessment" 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 Sep 12, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 15, 2020 Please refer to the FOA application due date information contained in the full FOA announcement.. (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 $35,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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