ARPA-E and ESTCP Demonstration Partnership | DE FOA 0002039

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002039

The ARPA-E and ESTCP Demonstration Partnership (DE-FOA-0002039) is a Department of Energy funding opportunity designed to move cutting-edge energy technologies from advanced R and D into real-world use on Department of Defense (DoD) installations. ARPA-E focuses on high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are still too early to attract substantial private investment, while the DoD Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) specializes in demonstrating and validating technologies that address urgent DoD environmental and installation energy needs and that can reasonably pay back their upfront costs through savings, efficiency gains, or improved operational outcomes. This partnership combines those strengths: ARPA-E provides the technology pipeline and funding, and ESTCP provides access to DoD sites plus deep experience running rigorous demonstration projects under operational conditions.

At its core, the opportunity funds on-base demonstrations intended to prove both performance and real operational costs for promising energy efficiency and energy security technologies. The program is tightly tied to Defense readiness goals, especially reducing facilities operation and maintenance burdens, improving efficiency, and strengthening energy resilience and security at installations. Demonstrations must take place in operational environments at DoD facilities or other locations where DoD has responsibility, rather than in laboratory settings. The technologies proposed are expected to be beyond basic research, meaning they should already have successfully completed laboratory testing and, where relevant, early small-scale field testing. The point of the funded work is to produce credible, high-quality cost and performance evidence that end users can trust, helping accelerate adoption within DoD and speeding transition into broader commercial markets.

The FOA emphasizes that projects should address high-priority installation energy requirements that matter beyond a single site. It explicitly states the program will not support full-scale demonstrations whose primary purpose is to solve one installation's unique problem. Instead, preference is given to projects that meet multi-Service needs or DoD-wide requirements, so the results can be applied across many bases and operating contexts. This focus on scalability and transferability is reflected throughout the deliverables: the expectation is not just a successful one-off test, but a demonstration that produces repeatable data and practical implementation guidance that others can use.

Awardees are expected to execute three major tracks of work. First is the demonstration itself, structured around one or more formal Demonstration Plans that govern technical execution and project management. ESTCP provides guidance on what these plans must include, and ARPA-E must review and approve the Demonstration Plan before any installation work begins. The demonstration is expected to generate enough relevant, scientifically defensible data to validate the technology's performance claims. A key requirement is to collect cost and performance data during and after the demonstration and share it with ARPA-E and DoD so they can produce realistic estimates for scaling the technology to full implementation, both at the demonstration location and across other DoD sites.

Second is technology transfer, meaning the project team must actively engage the intended DoD user community, seek feedback, and work toward acceptance by the people who would actually operate, maintain, and procure the solution. The FOA expects concrete transfer products such as user guidance, design documents, and/or protocol documents that make future implementation easier and more standardized. The project must also produce a Final Report that will be publicly available and include demonstration test data. Beyond internal reporting, the opportunity pushes teams to publish results in peer-reviewed scientific literature and present findings at technical conferences when appropriate, reinforcing the expectation that results be transparent, credible, and broadly usable. Teams must also identify practical pathways to implementation so the technology can move from a successful test into real procurement and deployment channels.

Third is regulatory and end-user acceptance support, which becomes especially important for technologies that face permitting, certification, or other approval hurdles. If regulatory approval is needed, the project must engage relevant regulators early, solicit feedback at the outset, and incorporate that feedback into the Demonstration Plan rather than waiting until late in the project. The FOA does not mandate a single regulatory strategy, but it encourages interaction with state regulators, interstate organizations, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as needed, depending on the technology and its regulatory landscape. The underlying idea is to reduce the risk that a technically successful demonstration still fails to deploy because regulatory concerns were not addressed in time.

A notable operational feature of the program is that selected applicants are paired with a DoD liaison. This liaison supports key steps such as choosing an appropriate demonstration site, validating cost and performance claims, interfacing with both regulatory bodies and the intended user community, and helping drive technology transfer across DoD. This arrangement is meant to keep demonstrations grounded in real installation needs and to improve the odds that results translate into decisions and follow-on adoption.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement, indicating substantial federal involvement during project execution. The award ceiling is listed at $2,000,000, with an expectation of around four awards. The opportunity was created April 10, 2019, and the concept paper due date was June 10, 2019, with applicants encouraged to submit at least 48 hours early to avoid last-minute submission issues.

Eligibility is one of the most restrictive aspects: the FOA is invitation-only. Only entities explicitly invited by ARPA-E may submit, either as a standalone applicant or as the lead organization of a broader project team. ARPA-E will not review or consider submissions from organizations that were not invited. Selection decisions are based on the full application and, in particular, the composition and capabilities of the project team described there, reflecting the program's emphasis on executing credible demonstrations, producing defensible data, and achieving adoption across DoD.

• The Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "ARPA-E and ESTCP Demonstration Partnership" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.135.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 10, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 10, 2019 The submission due date for concept papers is June 10, 2019. Applicants are strongly encourage to submit their applications at least 48 hours in advance of the submission due date.. (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 $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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