In early April, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $87.3 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development (R&D) projects for advanced coal technologies and research. This is in addition to other DOE funding sources for other coal-based technology research and development projects.

“Coal-fueled power plants are a significant source of electrical power generation in the United States. The goal with these projects is to ensure that the United States can have a fleet of coal-fired power plants that provides stable power generation with operational flexibility, high efficiency, low emissions, and lower costs for consumers,” said Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg. “By investing in this R&D, we will enable the United States to continue maximizing its domestic energy resources while protecting our supply of reliable and affordable electricity.”

In 2017, coal was the second-largest energy source for electricity generation in the United States.

The R&D projects for coal-fueled power plants and technologies will fall under five separate funding opportunity announcements (FOAs):

• Advancing Steam Turbine Performance for Coal Boilers – DOE Funding:Up to $22 million
• Transformational Sensing Systems for Monitoring the Deep Subsurface – DOE Funding:Up to $4.8 million
• Crosscutting Research for Coal-Fueled Power Plants – DOE Funding: Up to $14.5 million
• Advanced Materials for High-Efficiency, Flexible and Reliable Coal-Fueled Power Plants – DOE Funding: Up to $26 million
• Process Scale-Up and Optimization/Efficiency Improvements for Rare Earth Elements (REE) and Critical Materials (CM) Recovery from Coal-Based Resources – DOE Funding: Up to $20 million

DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will manage all of the selected projects.