Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0000978 Technology Incubator for Wind Energy Innovations

The purpose of this modification is to revise the Notice of Intent to include eligibility language for ALL Applicants and specifically for DOE Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled ?Technology Incubator for Wind Energy Innovations?. EERE is an organization focused on achieving aggressive and well-defined mid-to-long term clean energy goals for the United States of America. In that context, EERE has established multi-year plans and roadmaps. EERE focuses the majority of its resources on a limited number of "highest probability of success" pathways/approaches to ensure that the program initiatives are supported at a critical mass (both in terms of dollars and time) for maximum impact. This roadmap-based approach is one of EERE's greatest strengths, which can create challenges in recognizing and exploring unanticipated, game changing pathways/approaches which may ultimately be superior to the pathways/approaches on our existing roadmaps. To enhance the responsiveness of the roadmap approach, EERE is issuing "Incubator" Funding Opportunity Announcements within its existing Offices and programs to support innovative technologies and solutions that could help meet existing goals but are not represented in a significant way in the Offices' existing Multi-Year Program Plans (MYPPs) or current portfolios. The Incubator programs will allow EERE to assess new technologies for their potential to be ?on ramped? to future MYPPs. Successful incubator projects will reduce the risk associated with potentially breakthrough approaches and technologies so that they could be viable candidates for inclusion in future program roadmaps. The planned ?Technology Incubator for Wind Energy Innovations? FOA continues the work of the Wind Program within EERE, and supports the long-term goals of WWPTO, which include: ?Lower the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) of land-based utility-scale wind energy systems from 2011 reference costs1 of 7.2 ?/kWh (cents per kilowatt hour) to 4.2 ?/kWh by 2030 ?Lower LCOE of fixed-bottom offshore utility-scale wind energy systems from 2011 reference costs1 of 22.5 ?/kWh to 13.7 ?/kWh by 2030. The FOA encompasses applications for any and all ideas that have a significant potential to advance the mission of the Wind Program. All high-impact applications will be considered. The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, on behalf of EERE intends to issue a FOA titled, ?Technology Incubator for Wind Energy Innovations?. NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent. Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA. It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange no later than March 2014. This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE?s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.