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GFO-23-316 – Industrial, Agriculture, and Water Demand Flexible Research and Deployment Hub (IAW FlexHub)

Grantor:
CA Energy Commission
Departmental Grant ID:
GFO-23-316
Portal ID:
76131
Status:
Closed
Opportunity Type:
  • Grant
Last Updated:
Categories:

Details

Purpose:

The purpose of this solicitation is to fund a single research hub administrator who will establish the Industrial, Agricultural, and Water Research and Deployment Hub (IAW FlexHub or Hub) and convene leading research teams to demonstrate and deploy demand flexibility technology solutions for the industrial, agricultural, and water (IAW) sectors. 

Description:

Demand flexibility refers to comprehensive programs and strategies that align electricity consumption with dynamic grid conditions. These can include both event-based demand response (DR) and load shifting strategies.

Accelerating demand flexibility is a key strategy for California to reliably and affordably reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and meet the state’s climate and clean energy goals. In May 2023, CEC announced a statewide load shift goal of 7,000 MW by 2030, as directed by Senate Bill 846 (Dodd, Chapter 239, Statutes of 2022). However, there is very limited research about the operational flexibility of these sectors to quantify demand flexibility potential. Innovative solutions are needed to reduce the cost of implementation, deploy advanced controls for automated load shifting, and demonstrate state-of-the-art best practices that meet the needs of the IAW sectors. 

Projects awarded by the IAW FlexHub solicitation will increase IAW end-use demand flexibility, reduce dependence on fossil generation for firming renewable resources, enhance grid stability, and help resolve reliability issues related to achieving California’s environmental and decarbonization goals. The resulting technology research and development must lead to the discovery of new technologies and strategies and their potential for market adoption and scale-up through standards and policy enhancements. The Hub must bring together a multidisciplinary team of IAW experts from multiple sectors—including industry, academia, manufacturers, and non-profits—with the goal of achieving a critical mass of expertise to develop and implement the proposed projects’ activities and to create the capacity to achieve the following research objectives: 

·       Analyze IAW sector load shapes, including industrial subsectors, and identify operational flexibilities for demand flexibility​.

·       Develop advanced signal-responsive (price, marginal greenhouse gas emissions, etc.) technology solutions, with advanced cyber security, that enable commercialization and market adoption of flexible demand resources that operate in a grid-supportive manner.

·       Document best practices, performance, and costs of those technologies to provide a clear value proposition for customers, building owners, ratepayers, load serving entities, aggregators, and grid operators.

·       Prioritize current and anticipated grid and customer needs, identify a suite of research projects to serve those needs, and inform policy.

·       Share technical knowledge developed through Hub activities to accelerate technology standardization and adoption, reduce customer and infrastructure costs, increase electrical grid benefits, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Eligibility Requirements

Eligible Applicants:

  • Business
  • Individual
  • Nonprofit
  • Other Legal Entity
  • Public Agency
  • Tribal Government

This solicitation is open to all entities with the exception of local publicly owned electric utilities and other public entities, such as national laboratories and universities.

Eligible Geographies:

No local publicly owned electric utilities and other public entities, such as national laboratories and universities.

Matching Funding Requirement:

Match funding is required in the amount of at least 20% of the requested CEC funds.

Important Dates

The date (and time, where applicable) by which all applications must be submitted to the grantmaker. Time listed as “00:00” equates to midnight.
The date on which the grantor expects to announce the recipient(s) of the grant.
November 18, 2024
The length of time during which the grant money must be utilized.
Until funds expire

Funding Details

The total projected dollar amount of the grant.
$17,000,000
A single grant opportunity may represent one or many awards. Some grantors may know in advance the exact number of awards to be given. Others may indicate a range. Some may wish to and wait until the application period closes before determining how many awards to offer; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Grant opportunities representing multiple awards may offer awards in the same amount or in varied amounts. Some may wish to wait until the application period closes before determining per-award amounts; in this case, a value of “Dependent” will display.
Dependent
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) provide a letter of intent.
No
Certain grants require that the recipient(s) be able to fully or partially match the grant award amount with another funding source.
20%
The funding source allocated to fund the grant. It may be either State or Federal (or a combination of both), and be tied to a specific piece of legislation, a proposition, or a bond number.
  • State

Funding Source Notes:

EPIC Program

The manner in which the grant funding will be delivered to the awardee. Funding methods include reimbursements (where the recipient spends out-of-pocket and is reimbursed by the grantor) and advances (where the recipient spends received grant funds directly).
  • Reimbursement(s)

Funding Method Notes:

Reimbursement(s)

How to Apply

State agencies/departments recommend you read the full grant guidelines before applying.

Resources

For questions about this grant, contact:
Laura Williams, 1-916-879-1383, laura.williams@energy.ca.gov

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