BIL 41003c-Critical Material Innovation, Efficiency, and Alternatives | DE FOA 0003105

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003105

The Department of Energy (DOE) funding opportunity titled "BIL 41003c - Critical Material Innovation, Efficiency, and Alternatives" (DE-FOA-0003105) is a discretionary research and development grant program offered through cooperative agreements. It is designed to strengthen US domestic supply chains for critical minerals and materials (CMM) by supporting research, development, demonstration, and steps toward commercialization of technologies that can supply these materials more reliably and with fewer environmental and health impacts. The program is grounded in federal direction from section 7002(g) of the Energy Act of 2020 and section 41003(c) of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), reflecting a broader national strategy to modernize infrastructure, reinforce domestic manufacturing capacity, and reduce supply chain vulnerabilities that can slow down the clean energy transition.

At its core, the FOA is about building practical, scalable pathways to produce and use critical materials using domestic resources, while simultaneously lowering emissions, reducing resource intensity (such as energy and water use), and improving cost competitiveness. DOE signals that projects can span many parts of the CMM lifecycle and value chain, including extraction, separation, processing, refining, alloying, manufacturing, recovery, recycling, and reuse. A central theme is sustainability: DOE is explicitly looking for approaches that mitigate environmental and health burdens associated with material production and end-of-life handling. The opportunity also aligns with government-wide priorities tied to climate goals, workforce and economic benefits, and environmental justice, meaning applicants should expect that community impacts and responsible project development matter alongside technical performance.

The funding announcement is organized into five Areas of Interest (AOIs), each targeting a different lever for securing critical materials and reducing risk. AOI 1, "CMM Supply Chain," is a multiphase track aimed at technology development or process improvements anywhere along the supply chain that result in new or expanded domestic supplies of critical minerals and materials. AOI 2, "Value Added Products," is also multiphase and focuses on converting CMM-containing feedstocks into higher-value products, which can improve the economics of domestic production and help move materials into usable forms for manufacturers. AOI 3, "Next Generation Technologies," supports novel production and recycling approaches that represent a meaningful step forward from current practice, with evaluation centered on reducing environmental emissions, lowering resource use or intensity, and optimizing overall cost across steps like extraction, separation, refining, alloying, manufacturing, or recycling. AOI 4, "Alternative Materials," targets the development of substitutes for critical minerals and materials, with the goal of reducing dependence on constrained or geopolitically risky inputs and making domestic supply chains more resilient. AOI 5, "Alternative Products," broadens the lens to energy technologies themselves, supporting redesigns or alternative technology concepts that reduce or eliminate reliance on constrained materials by using inputs that are abundant in the US or less subject to supply restrictions.

From an applicant standpoint, DOE framed eligibility as unrestricted, meaning the opportunity is broadly open to different types of entities (subject to any specific clarifications in the full FOA). The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates substantial DOE involvement during the period of performance, such as active technical coordination, milestone oversight, or other programmatic engagement beyond what is common in a standard grant. The FOA listed an expected total of about 30 awards, with a maximum award size (ceiling) of $30,000,000 per project. The opportunity was posted on September 6, 2023, with an original application deadline of November 10, 2023, which is important context for anyone reviewing it for historical reference, benchmarking, or anticipating similar follow-on DOE funding in this area.

Overall, this FOA is best understood as a domestic industrial and clean energy enabling program: it funds the technical and commercialization groundwork needed to secure critical materials for batteries, electronics, magnets, renewable power, grid infrastructure, and other energy technologies. DOE is looking for projects that can credibly move the needle on US supply security while proving measurable improvements in environmental performance and resource efficiency, either by improving how critical materials are produced and recovered, or by reducing how much society needs them through substitutes and redesigned products.

• The Department of Energy, Headquarters in the energy, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BIL 41003c-Critical Material Innovation, Efficiency, and Alternatives" 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 06, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 10, 2023. (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 $30,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 30 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.

Apply for DE FOA 0003105

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