The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is offering up to $100 million to refurbish and modernize existing coal power plants around the nation.
The notice of funding opportunity, DE-FOA-0003606, targets projects that enhance efficiency, reliability and operational flexibility. The DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) are managing the initiative.
The program will award cooperative agreements for projects that design, test and validate improvements at existing coal facilities. Eligible applicants include domestic universities, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, tribes and federal research agencies.
The $100 million funding will be divided among three project areas. About $50 million will support the development of advanced wastewater systems, $25 million will fund dual-firing retrofits that allow plants to use both coal and natural gas, and another $25 million will support natural gas co-firing systems.
Each award may total between $400,000 and $50 million, depending on project scope, and will move through three phases over up to five years. Projects must include a 20% cost share in the first two phases and 50% in the final phase.
Applications are due Jan. 7, 2026. The DOE anticipates the effort will strengthen grid reliability and support U.S. energy and industrial security. The initiative follows Executive Order 14156, signed Jan. 20, 2025, which declared a national energy emergency and directed federal agencies to use their authorities to support domestic energy generation, including coal.
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