Well Told Grants

Grants / Department of Energy / Golden Field Office

DE-FOA-0003296: Combined Wellbore Construction High Temperature Tools and Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES)

Closed Closed April 1, 2024 Opportunity DE-FOA-0003296

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: Accelerating Scale-up and Pre-piloting of Emerging Chemical Technologies (ASPECT) (DE-FOA-0003647). Status: Closes December 1, 2026 (24 days left). It is in our archive of Golden Field Office notices from 2024.

Golden Field Office offered grants of up to $10.0 million (at least $100,000) to any type of organization. It expected to make about 11 awards worth $31.0 million in total. Applications closed on April 1, 2024.

From the official notice on Grants.gov, last changed January 30, 2024. Checked November 7, 2026.

Key dates

PostedJanuary 30, 2024
DeadlineApril 1, 2024
Archived by Grants.govMay 1, 2024

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to any type of organization.

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Is this a realistic fit?

What the grant funds

Combined Wellbore Construction High Temperature Tools and Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES) The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is issuing Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0003296 on behalf of the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO). GTO actively pursues research, development, and demonstration projects to facilitate technology validation and demonstration, reduce cost, and improve performance of geothermal technologies. The economic viability of geothermal projects across the resource spectrum depends on developing and improving enabling technologies and detailed understanding of the subsurface, including geologic qualities, permeability, and other attributes. This funding opportunity comprises two topic areas with separate objectives and technical focus. Topic Area 1: High-Temperature Tools for Well Integrity Evaluation Topic Area 1 seeks applications to address ¿¿wellbore tools and technology to supplement and advance beyond currently available off-the-shelf (OTS) solutions provided by the oil and gas industry for cement and casing evaluation. Current solutions are suitable for the upper end of the oil and gas industry’s temperature needs but are not generally considered adequate for use in hotter, EGS systems. As advancements and novel methods in casing and cementing are implemented, a critical, early element of success is evaluating their efficacy. Given the harsh conditions often encountered in geothermal borehole environments, obtaining quality inspection and confirmation information can be a costly and difficult task. The projects selected under Topic Area 1 of this FOA will seek to address the availability of downhole cement and casing evaluation tools for use in high temperature and hostile geothermal wellbores. Topic Area 2: Utilization of Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES) Technology for Decarbonization of Industrial Processes Topic Area 2 seeks to demonstrate low-temperature (<130¿ C) RTES technology with applications to industrial processes such as melting plastic, removing moisture, treating chemicals, and others. RTES takes advantage of large subsurface storage capacities, geothermal gradients, and thermal insulation associated with deep geologic formations to store thermal energy to be extracted in the future for beneficial use on a variety of timescales.

Category: Energy.

Who has won Renewable Energy Research and Development grants before

From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Renewable Energy Research and Development (81.087) awarded $2.5 billion across 900 grant awards, an average of $2.8 million per award.

Largest recipients, fiscal 2021 to 2025
RecipientStateAwardsAmount
Oregon State UniversityOregon12$112 million
University of UtahUtah3$107 million
Avapco LLCGeorgia2$103 million
Plug Power Inc.New York4$75.7 million
General Motors LLCMichigan5$61.1 million

Top states: California ($331 million), New York ($226 million), Oregon ($211 million), Massachusetts ($170 million), Michigan ($166 million).

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, DE-FOA-0003647, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.

Questions people ask

Is DE-FOA-0003296 still open?

No. It closed on April 1, 2024. A newer notice is open: DE-FOA-0003647, closes December 1, 2026 (24 days left).

Who can apply for Combined Wellbore Construction High Temperature Tools and Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES)?

Golden Field Office accepted applications from any type of organization.

What is the deadline for Combined Wellbore Construction High Temperature Tools and Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES)?

Closed April 1, 2024. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.

How much funding is available?

Awards of up to $10.0 million each. About $31.0 million in total across about 11 awards.

Who has won Renewable Energy Research and Development grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Oregon State University, University of Utah, Avapco LLC. The program made 900 awards worth $2.5 billion in that time.

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