Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration | DE FOA 0002745

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002745

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0002745) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) solicitation managed through the Golden Field Office that aims to strengthen bulk power system reliability as more wind and solar generation comes online. The core purpose is to move beyond studies and small pilots by funding real-world demonstrations that prove large-scale solar and wind power plants, along with supporting technologies, can reliably deliver essential grid services traditionally supplied by conventional generators. In practical terms, the opportunity focuses on showing how inverter-based renewable resources can help operate and stabilize the grid while maintaining dependable protection and system performance under high renewable penetration.

The funding is offered as a cooperative agreement, which generally means DOE expects to be actively involved during the project period through substantial collaboration, technical oversight, and milestone-based management rather than acting only as a passive funder. The program anticipates making about 9 awards, with an award ceiling of $5,600,000 per project. The opportunity is listed under the Energy funding activity category and carries CFDA number 81.087. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning the competition is broadly open to many entity types (such as private companies, utilities, manufacturers, developers, universities, national labs as partners where allowable, nonprofit organizations, and state or local entities), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications contained in the full announcement.

The work is organized into two main topic areas. Topic 1, Wind and Solar Grid Services Design, Implementation, and Demonstration, supports full-scale demonstrations that integrate renewable generation with other large-scale technologies or aggregated distributed energy resources (DERs) to provide ancillary services and improve reliability. Ancillary services typically include capabilities like frequency response, voltage support (reactive power), ramping, operating reserves, and other fast-acting support functions that help keep the grid stable as conditions change. A key emphasis here is seamless integration: projects are expected to show coordinated operation between wind or solar plants and complementary resources such as battery energy storage systems, hybrid plant controls, advanced inverters, power plant controllers, or aggregated DER portfolios. The intent is to validate performance in real operating conditions and provide credible evidence that these systems can deliver grid services at scale, not just in simulations.

Topic 2, Protection of Bulk Power Systems with High Contribution from Inverter-Based Resources, targets the protection and fault-response challenges that emerge when inverter-based resources (IBRs) represent a very large share of generation on the grid. Traditional protection schemes were largely designed around synchronous machines, and as IBR penetration rises, grid behavior during faults, disturbances, and abnormal events can look different in ways that affect how protective relays and schemes detect and clear problems. This topic aims to improve understanding of protection system operation under very high IBR scenarios by advancing modeling and simulation capabilities, then using those tools to develop, validate, and demonstrate strategies and technologies that maintain effective protection at any level of IBR penetration. The emphasis is both on better predictive capability (models and simulations that accurately represent IBR behavior and protection interactions) and on practical solutions (validated protection approaches, settings, algorithms, or devices) that improve overall reliability.

Key administrative details from the source information include a posting/creation date of August 2, 2022, and an original closing date of November 10, 2022. Overall, the opportunity is designed to accelerate the operational readiness of high-renewable grids by funding demonstrations that prove wind and solar can actively support grid reliability through advanced controls, coordinated resources, and modernized protection strategies suited to inverter-dominated power systems.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Solar and Wind Grid Services and Reliability Demonstration" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 02, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 10, 2022. (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 $5,600,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 9 candidate(s).
• 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.

Apply for DE FOA 0002745

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: