Washington, DC – Today, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, welcomed the Department of Energy’s announcement of up to $100 million in funding for transformative clean energy technology research and development via the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy’s (ARPA-E) OPEN 2021 funding opportunity. This funding will help identify cutting-edge, disruptive energy-related technologies, including clean energy technologies that will play a key role in addressing the climate crisis.

“I’m thrilled to see the Department of Energy announce $100 million for research and development of game-changing energy technologies. Innovation is critical to addressing the climate challenges facing us today and to charting a path to a cleaner energy future. West Virginia has hosted four ARPA-E projects and the Mountain State’s innovative spirit continues to thrive. I encourage all scientists, entrepreneurs and technology trailblazers to apply for this funding. I will continue supporting the Department’s investment in these much needed technologies of the future,” Chairman Manchin said.

ARPA-E’s OPEN funding opportunities are the largest single funding amounts offered through an individual program, funding dozens of projects every three years since the agency’s founding in 2009. Past OPEN projects have attracted more than $850 million in private sector follow-on funding to commercialize their clean energy technologies and create new and sustainable clean energy jobs.

Previous OPEN awardees have also gone on to achieve technical successes in commercializing a variety of energy solutions, including in the development of transformative solar, geothermal, batteries, biofuels and advanced surface coating technologies.

Potential applicants can visit ARPA-E’s newly launched OPEN 2021 website to access useful information and resources, including a teaming partner list for help forming new project teams and identifying potential collaborations, and webinars featuring Program Directors discussing technical areas they hope to pursue.

To view more information on applying, click here.

To view a list of ARPA-E projects recently completed or currently being hosted in West Virginia, see below:

National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)

• Distributed Nuclear Reactor Core Monitoring with Single-crystal Harsh-environment Optical Fibers Generation

West Virginia University Research Corporation (WVURC)

• Advanced Stirling Power Generation System for CHP
• Oscillating Linear Engine and Alternator
• Microwave-Plasma Ammonia Synthesis

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