The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) announced its intent to fund the Concentrating Solar Flux to Heat and Power funding opportunity, which will award up to $30 million for innovative projects that accelerate the large-scale development and deployment of concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) technology. CSP technologies offer unique value as a renewable energy resource that can readily deliver high-temperature heat and incorporate energy storage for on-demand solar power.  

DOE expects to release the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) in March 2024. SETO is interested in funding projects in three topic areas:  

• Topic Area 1: Scalable Concentrating Solar Collectors 
• Topic Area 2: Scalable Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (sCO2) Turbomachinery 
• Topic Area 3: Scalable Concentrating Solar-thermal Receivers and Reactors 

The goals of the intended FOA will be aligned with DOE’s target of levelized cost of heat of $0.02 per kilowatt-hour, and levelized cost of electricity of $0.05 kilowatt-hour. The FOA will also support the goals of the DOE’s Industrial Heat Shot, Hydrogen Shot, and Clean Fuels & Products Shot.