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By Tarak Shah
Assistant Secretary Burke has said “To win the wars of the future and implement the President’s defense strategy, we need to make sure American business can meet the needs of our future force.” DoD relies on American workers and businesses to help defend the nation. That is especially true when it comes to energy technology for our military. By leveraging businesses and entrepreneurs to accelerate energy innovation for our warfighters, we strengthen our security, modernize our industrial base, and promote economic development at the same time. That said, we know that doing business with the Department isn’t always the easiest. One way we hope to make that easier is by listing open defense energy solicitations. As we become aware of new RFIs, FOAs, and other solicitations, we’ll update this page.
BAA for Energy Conservation Applications for U.S. Navy Ships
Posted on: December 10, 2012; Closes on November 30, 2014
Solicitation Number: N0016713BAA01
Naval Surface Warfare Center is seeking innovative concepts from industry and academia to enable energy conservation and carbon footprint reduction on U.S. Navy ships. The primary focus is on concepts with the potential for rapid transition to Fleet operations. All Military Sealift Command ship classes and Navy combatants have opportunities for energy conservation, and all classes are of interest under this BAA.
Emphasis is placed on solutions with an identified transition path capable of making near-term, measurable improvements towards the Navy’s shipboard energy conservation and carbon footprint reduction needs. Solutions at all levels of development will be considered, ranging from near-term strategies applicable to existing ship classes to those suitable for new construction and future design.
Learn more and submit a response here: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=04286c9f96df5f450567741f461facb4&tab=core&_cview=0
Posted on: November 12, 2013; Closes on: November 12, 2014
Solicitation Number: N68335-14-R-0018
Naval Air Systems Command has released its 2014 Broad Area Announcement (BAA) for propulsion and power technology development programs. The Navy is looking for technologies that will significantly improve power density, available power, efficiency, reliability, readiness, service life, environmental compliance, safety-of-flight, and ownership costs. Technology development areas include, but are not limited to, fuel cell systems, novel generators and motors, engine and generator integration, wiring and power system diagnostics/prognostics, arc fault circuit breakers, high temperature components, advanced wiring materials, batteries and other advanced energy storage devices, thermal management and advanced cooling techniques, and power conversion/control.
Learn more and submit a response here: https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DON/NAVAIR/N68335/N68335-14-R-0018/listing.html
Posted on: 3 February, 2014; Closes on: 11 April, 2014
Solicitation Number: DE-FOA-0000996
The Department of Energy (DoE)'s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) seeks to enable a wide range of efficient and renewable energy technologies.
As part of its mission, EERE has the goal of enhancing US competitiveness in clean energy technologies, including in their manufacturing processes. In support of this goal, EERE has released an FOA which seeks to develop a cost competitive carbon fiber, made from renewable non-food biomass, that can be used to make vehicles lighter.
A webinar with more information about the FOA is available online at
Learn more and submit a response here: https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/#FoaId9c2b53f7-d61a-45a1-b322-20df23a47d0b
Posted on: February 4, 2014; Closes on April 1, 2014
Solicitation number: N3943014R1429
Transformative Reductions in Operational Energy Consumption (TROPEC), an OECIF funded program, identifies, assesses, demonstrates and helps transitions innovations for energy use reduction at expeditionary base camps, with a particular emphasis on tropical environments.
TROPEC is seeking submissions for 2014 that could be used to reduce energy and water consumption at expeditionary bases, water purification, water use reduction, water reuse, efficient electronics and DC-powered shelter loads.
Learn more and submit a response here: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=ee8530c43a6747beb4a4eaf1209d832b&tab=core&_cview=0
Posted on: February 20th, 2014; Response date: March 6, 2014
Solicitation Number: RRTO-20140220-DSOE
Posted on: 22 January 2014; Closes on: 21 February 2014
Solicitation Number: W56HZV-ULTRA-LIGHT-COMBAT-VEHICLE
EXFOB 2014 RFI - Tactical Energy Harvesting
Posted on: January 13, 2014; Closes on February 21, 2014
Solicitation Number: ExFOB2014(TacticalEnergyHarvesting)
The Marine Corps seeks to make remote Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) more sustainable when engaged in combat operations. To pursue this objective, the Marines hold an annual Experimental Forward Operating Base demonstration (ExFOB). ExFOB, rather than a simple tradeshow, is a dynamic process to rapidly evaluate and deploy technologies that reduce battlefield requirements for energy and water.
In current operations, there are a number of untapped energy streams that, if harnessed, could enable Marines to get more out of every gallon of fuel they use, which is why ExFOB 2014 has two areas of special interest: 1) currently available technologies that can harvest energy from Marines on patrol (including kinetic energy, body heat energy, nano tech in fabric, vibration tech, and wearable solar; 2) harvesting energy from generator waste heat. In addition, while the ExFOB team is primarily interested in these two technology areas, they are open to other energy harvesting technologies for specific applications. For 2014, EXFOB is occurring May 12-16 at Camp Pendleton, California.
Learn more and submit a response here: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=2085bc41aa6eacbf458fd2fc3e270b69
Posted on: November 25, 2013; Closes on: January 9, 2014
Solicitation Number: BAA-RQKM-2014-0005
Learn more and submit a response here: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=27c1a7b6e36a70a56d20722a19638630
Posted on: November 12, 2013; Closes on December 22, 2013
Solicitation Number: HQ0034-OEPP-14-BAA-0001
During 2013 the DoD budgeted more than $16B to pay for fuel for military operations. While this represents approximately two percent of the Department’s budget, fuel price market volatility continues to create budget turbulence: each $1 increase in the price of a barrel of oil costing the Department an additional $105 million. In Fiscal Year 2012, fuel price volatility produced a multi-billion dollar unfunded requirement.
With this in mind, DoD requires information on the development, implementation, and operation of fuel hedging programs and alternatives to fuel hedging. The objective of this research effort is to describe a hedging program appropriate to the volatility risk exposure the Department faces and estimate the total resource commitment needed to implement that program.
The research effort should focus on determining the Department’s risk exposure and describing a hedging strategy and program appropriately sized and structured to manage the level of risk. The research effort should provide a recommendation of the percentage of the Department’s fuel purchase to hedge, the amount of hedge, the mechanisms that could be used to hedge, and the cost of establishing and maintaining the capabilities needed to administer the program.
Learn more and submit a response here: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=01ebcd4d2989609a49fd5406d13a0a57
Posted on: November 8, 2013; First Round due on: December 6, 2013
Solicitation Number: DE-FOA-0000981
Posted on: September 12, 2013; Closes on: October 28, 2013
Solicitation Number: SP0600-14-R-0500
Currently the DoD / US Army uses the Inland Petroleum Distribution (IPDS) to execute its overland petroleum distribution mission. IPDS is a rapidly-deployed, general support, bulk fuel storage and pipeline system that has a design throughput of 720,000 gallons/daily. IPDS is used worldwide to provide bulk Class III petroleum fuels to operating forces during combat and contingency operations. This pipeline system is the most effective means of moving large quantities of bulk Class III products currently in the military inventory.
The Defense Logistics Agency is specifically seeking companies who can provide contractor enhanced fuel distribution capability to meet IPDS mission requirements using either:
1) commercial capability solely, or
2) commercial capability with supporting government furnished equipment (GFE).
Learn more and submit a response here: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=37ab15b98566ad03fd96a40b8277195e&tab=core&_cview=0
Posted on: August 30, 2013; Closes on: September 30, 2013
DOE, the U.S. Air Force, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense are seeking information on new and innovative technologies for secure, clean and cost-competitive CTL-based jet fuels for military applications. DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), which could be developed based in part on the responses to this request. Such a FOA would seek the most promising research and development projects on advanced concepts for and/or unit operations within a CTL fuels plant.
Learn more and submit a response here: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=874ff83b2b3cb87cb194f98cf3552eb9&tab=core&_cview=0
Transformative Reductions in Operational Energy Consumption (TROPEC) Evaluation Cycle 13.2
Posted on: August 22, 2012; Closes on: September 30, 2013
Solicitation Number: TROPEC-2013-2 The Transformative Reductions in Operational Energy Consumption (TROPEC) program is a collaborative Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Energy (DOE) program which identifies, assesses, demonstrates and helps transition innovations for energy use reduction at expeditionary base camps, with a particular emphasis on tropical environments. The TROPEC 13.2 focus areas are technologies that could be used to reduce energy consumption at expeditionary bases: space conditioning, high-temperature electronics and "off-grid" internal shelter loads.
TROPEC is a collaboration under the DoD/DOE Energy Security Memorandum of Understanding and was funded in FY12, by OEPP’s Innovation Fund. You can visit TROPEC’s website at http://www.tropec.net/.
Learn more and submit a response here: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=51b1c86ca22a34680e5a5113b50e0c37&tab=core&_cview=0
Posted on: August 13, 2013; Closes on: September 13, 2013
Solicitation Number: RFI-RQKPC-13-03
The U.S. Air Force is seeking information on two items:
1) durable and cost effective engineered surfaces and coatings to enable drag reduction for the Air Force fleet, and
2) the possible formation of a consortium to bring together industry, academia and the government to develop standard test protocol for the testing of engineered materials and coating for drag reduction and to facilitate interactions with small business and non-traditional Department of Defense (DoD) contractors to provide materials and test articles for evaluation by the government and other industry partners.
This Air Force project was initially funded in FY12 by OEPP’s Operational Energy Capability Improvement fund. Read a blog post about all of projects selected in FY12.
Learn more and submit a response to the RFI here:
https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=c3a33ffeab8a26dd13caa68ac5db8a63&tab=core&_cview=0.
Tarak Shah is Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs.