Notice of Intent DE-FOA-0002046 to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0001998 titled - Transformational Sensing Capabilities for Monitoring the Subsurface | DE FOA 0002046

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002046

Notice of Intent DE-FOA-0002046 is an advance notification from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), that it planned to release a separate Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), DE-FOA-0001998, titled "Transformational Sensing Capabilities for Monitoring the Subsurface." The document itself is not a funding solicitation and was not open for applications. Instead, it served to alert interested organizations that DOE expected to seek proposals for financial assistance awards supporting the Office of Fossil Energy (FE) Carbon Storage Program, with the FOA anticipated for release in the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2019. The notice lists an original closing date of February 28, 2019 for the notice posting, but emphasizes that no applications would be accepted under this notice of intent.

The technical focus of the planned FOA was the development of next-generation, transformational sensing technologies to improve measurement and monitoring of conditions associated with carbon dioxide (CO2) injection and long-term geologic storage. DOE highlighted the need to measure and monitor key parameters across the full "storage complex," meaning not only the injection reservoir itself, but also the overburden and underburden surrounding it, including the sealing formations that prevent CO2 migration. The notice defines a storage complex as one or more suitable storage reservoirs (with sufficient permeability and porosity for CO2 injection and storage), together with one or more low-permeability seals that contain the injected CO2 and limit upward or lateral migration. It also specifically calls out monitoring needs in the Above-Zone Monitoring Intervals (AZMIs), the region immediately above the primary seal where monitoring can provide early indication of potential leakage or unexpected fluid movement.

DOE framed the opportunity around overcoming limitations of existing subsurface monitoring and sensing approaches. The goal was not incremental improvement, but sensing systems that could change what is practically measurable, where it can be measured, and how quickly the information can be used. A central theme is real-time or near-real-time sensing that improves the ability to track fluid movement in the subsurface and/or to measure critical subsurface properties relevant to storage performance, containment assurance, and operational decision-making during injection. The notice also points to the importance of integrating these sensors into autonomous, intelligent monitoring systems capable of supporting real-time decision making, implying interest in sensors that produce actionable data streams suited for automated interpretation, control, and anomaly detection rather than sporadic, manually processed measurements.

The notice is also explicit about deployability and operational constraints in well environments, which are often where monitoring systems become too expensive, too complex, or too failure-prone for long-duration storage projects. DOE indicated that the sought-after sensors should have extended life expectancy and be deployable within the well annulus. In addition, they should avoid requiring perforating or umbilicals in the well annulus for installation, power delivery, or data transmission. This requirement signals interest in practical field deployment designs that reduce well integrity risks, simplify installation, and lower long-term operating burdens. In effect, DOE was steering applicants toward robust, low-intrusion sensing solutions that can remain functional over long periods, consistent with the multi-year monitoring needs typical of CO2 storage projects.

From an administrative standpoint, the notice is categorized as a discretionary opportunity and placed under an energy, science and technology, and other research and development activity classification, with CFDA number 81.089. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning it was open to any type of entity unless further clarified in the eventual FOA text. No awards were expected under the notice itself (ExpectedAwards listed as 0), reinforcing that this posting was informational rather than competitive. An "AwardCeiling" value of 2 appears in the metadata, but because this is not the actual FOA and no applications were accepted under the notice, the meaningful funding levels, number of awards, and cost-sharing terms would have been set in the later DE-FOA-0001998 solicitation.

Overall, the notice communicates DOE's intent to fund R and D aimed at dramatically improving subsurface monitoring for geologic carbon storage, with a particular emphasis on durable, real-time sensing technologies that can be deployed in challenging downhole environments and can feed into automated monitoring and decision systems. The underlying purpose is to strengthen confidence in CO2 containment and storage performance by enabling better visibility into subsurface behavior across the reservoir, seals, and monitoring intervals above the seal, using sensor systems that are both technically advanced and field-practical for long-term deployment.

• The Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent DE-FOA-0002046 to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0001998 titled - Transformational Sensing Capabilities for Monitoring the Subsurface" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.089.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 19, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 28, 2019 THIS IS A NOTICE OF ITENT TO ISSUE FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT DE-FOA-0001998. APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE.. (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 $2.00 in funding.
• 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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