The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) issued a Notice of Intent for a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) expected to support projects facilitating the design, construction, and operation of engineering-scale prototypes of water treatment technologies for the Nation’s existing and future fleet of thermoelectric power plants.

Water is a fixed resource with competing demands. There is an inextricable link between water and energy, as thermoelectric power generation accounts for 40 percent of freshwater withdrawals and 3 percent of freshwater consumption in the United States. Identifying and treating alternative sources of water, such as effluent streams, supports DOE’s Water Security Grand Challenge Goal 3: “Achieve near-zero water impact for new thermoelectric power plants, and significantly lower freshwater use intensity within the existing fleet.”

It is envisioned under DE-FOA-0002399 (Water Management for Thermal Power Generation) that fossil asset owners or operators and technology developers will collaborate to develop engineering-scale prototypes of water treatment technologies that advance near-term water treatment solutions toward commercial deployment. The scope is expected to include treatment of traditional and non-traditional waters associated with coal, gas, and hydrogen-based power plants. This includes plant effluent streams and brines associated with carbon capture and storage. The business case may be enhanced by incorporating other water sources into the treatment process (such as brackish groundwater and mining or agricultural discharges) and by developing an integrated process to extract rare earth elements (REEs), minerals, chemicals, and solids from the waste stream for resale.

This FOA is sponsored by FE’s Water Management Program. FE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage the selected projects. Click here to review information about NETL’s Water Management initiatives.

Read the full Notice of Intent here

The Office of Fossil Energy funds research and development projects to reduce the risk of advanced fossil energy technologies and further the sustainable use of the Nation’s fossil resources. To learn more about the research projects within the Office of Fossil Energy, visit the National Energy Technology Laboratory website. More information about the National Energy Technology Laboratory is available on the NETL website.