Description

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of DOE’s intention to issue this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. DOE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. However, once the NOFO has been released, DOE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions. Applications will be due about 90 days after the NOFO is issued. Through this planned NOFO, the DOE Office of Indian Energy plans to solicit applications from Indian Tribes, which include Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Village Corporations, Intertribal Organizations, and Tribal Energy Development Organizations to: 1. Install energy generating system(s) and/or energy efficiency measure(s) for Tribal Building(s) (Area of Interest 1); or, 2. Deploy community-scale energy generating system(s) or energy storage on Tribal Lands (Area of Interest 2); or, 3. Install integrated energy system(s) for autonomous operation (independent of the traditional centralized electric power grid) to power a single or multiple Essential Tribal Buildings during emergency situations or for tribal community resilience (Area of Interest 3); or, 4. Power unelectrified Tribal Buildings (Area of Interest Area 4). Except for Area of Interest 4, projects proposed under this NOFO are intended for Tribal Buildings that are either (1) grid-connected (which, for the purposes of the planned NOFO, means the Tribal Building(s) are connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid), or (2) connected to a stand-alone (isolated) microgrid that operates autonomously from the traditional centralized electric power grid. Area of Interest 4 is intended to deploy integrated energy system(s) or energy infrastructure to provide electricity to Tribal Buildings which otherwise would be unelectrified, where “unelectrified” means Tribal Building(s) that are (1) not connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid, and (2) not connected to a stand-alone (isolated) microgrid that operates autonomously from the traditional centralized electric power grid. The DOE Office of Indian Energy envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of grants. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately from two (2) to four (4) years, including a 12-month mandatory verification period. Under the planned NOFO, DOE’s Office of Indian Energy anticipates making awards that range from $100,000 to $2,500,000 or from $250,000 to $5,000,000, depending on the Area of Interest. The DOE Office of Indian Energy plans to issue the NOFO spring 2025. If Applicants wish to be notified when the NOFO is issued, they should subscribe to the DOE Office of Indian Energy email newsletter list on its website homepage (https://energy.gov/indianenergy). When the NOFO is released, applications will be accepted only through IE-Exchange (https://ie-exchange.energy.gov). NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. See the attached NOI for more details and the registrations needed prior to submitting an application. This is a NOI only. DOE may issue a NOFO as described herein, may issue a NOFO that is significantly different than the NOFO described herein, or DOE may not issue a NOFO at all.