Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number DE-FOA-0002237: "Offshore Wind Energy Environmental Research and Instrumentation Validation" | DE FOA 0002237

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002237

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002237, titled "Offshore Wind Energy Environmental Research and Instrumentation Validation," is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) competitive funding opportunity released in partnership with the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) and coordinated with other agencies. The central purpose is to fund regionally focused, coordinated offshore wind environmental research that both improves understanding of environmental impacts from offshore wind development and advances, validates, and strengthens the technical readiness of tools used to monitor those impacts and reduce or avoid harm. In practice, this FOA is meant to generate credible data, standardized methods, and field-validated monitoring technologies that regulators, developers, researchers, and stakeholders can rely on as offshore wind expands.

The FOA is organized into three topic areas reflecting near-term U.S. offshore wind development priorities on the Atlantic Coast and early-stage preparation for floating offshore wind on the West Coast. Topic Area 1 focuses on U.S. Atlantic waters and supports the development of methodologies and the evaluation of offshore wind impacts on wildlife. This area is aimed at improving the scientific basis for assessing how offshore wind construction and operations may affect wildlife and at strengthening the methods and monitoring approaches used to detect, measure, and interpret those effects. DOE anticipated making a single award for this topic, with a maximum federal share of up to $7.5 million, signaling an expectation for a substantial, coordinated effort rather than multiple smaller, disconnected projects.

Topic Area 2 is also centered on U.S. Atlantic waters, but it targets commercially fished species and their ecology. The emphasis is on developing methodologies and evaluating how offshore wind may affect the ecology of species that underpin commercial fisheries, which can include changes related to habitat, behavior, distribution, and broader ecosystem interactions. This topic is framed to support rigorous, decision-relevant science that can inform both environmental reviews and fishery management discussions in regions where offshore wind leasing and construction are most active. DOE anticipated issuing a single award for Topic Area 2, with up to $3.5 million available, again indicating a preference for an integrated project team and coordinated research plan.

Topic Area 3 shifts attention to the waters off the U.S. West Coast, where floating offshore wind is expected to play a major role due to deeper water conditions. This area supports environmental baseline studies as well as the development and validation of environmental monitoring technologies, specifically in preparation for future floating offshore wind development. The intent is to establish foundational environmental information and to mature monitoring tools before large-scale deployment accelerates, so that environmental assessment and mitigation strategies can be based on strong baseline data and proven instrumentation. DOE anticipated making between three and fourteen awards in Topic Area 3, each ranging from $750,000 to $2 million, which suggests a portfolio approach encouraging multiple teams to tackle different baseline and technology-validation needs across varied West Coast environments.

The funding instrument for this FOA is a cooperative agreement, which typically means DOE expects substantial involvement during the project period, such as collaboration on technical direction, milestones, data sharing expectations, or coordination across partners. The opportunity is categorized under the Energy funding activity category and is associated with CFDA number 81.087. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning any type of entity may apply (subject to any additional clarifications provided in the full FOA), which commonly includes universities, national laboratories, nonprofits, private companies, state or local governments, and other qualified organizations capable of carrying out the proposed work.

Cost sharing is a required component and varies by topic area. Topic Areas 1 and 2 require a 30% cost share, while Topic Area 3 requires a 20% cost share. This means applicants must plan to contribute a defined portion of total project costs through non-federal resources (such as applicant funds, third-party contributions, or other allowable sources), and they should factor that requirement into both project scope and partnership structure.

From an administrative standpoint, the FOA was issued by the DOE Golden Field Office, with a creation date of January 15, 2021. The original application deadline was May 5, 2021 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. Applications were required to be submitted through DOE EERE's Program Information Center (EPIC) portal at https://epicweb.ee.doe.gov, and applicants needed to register in EPIC to submit required materials. DOE indicated an award ceiling of $7.5 million (which aligns with the maximum for Topic Area 1) and an expectation of approximately six total awards across all topic areas, consistent with the plan of one award each for Topics 1 and 2 and multiple awards for Topic 3.

Overall, DE-FOA-0002237 is structured to accelerate offshore wind deployment in a responsible way by funding research that directly improves environmental impact assessment and mitigation, and by ensuring monitoring tools and methods are validated under real-world conditions. Its design reflects two simultaneous needs: addressing immediate Atlantic offshore wind environmental and fisheries questions with large, coordinated projects, while building the West Coast knowledge base and monitoring capabilities needed for floating offshore wind before development scales up.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number DE-FOA-0002237: "Offshore Wind Energy Environmental Research and Instrumentation Validation"" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 15, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 05, 2021 To apply to this FOA, applicants must register with and submit application materials through the EERE Program Information Center (EPIC) at https://epicweb.ee.doe.gov, EERE#8217s online application portal, by 05/05/2021, 500 PM ET.. (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 $7,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 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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