Support Grants for Participation in ARPA-E Grid Optimization (GO) Competition Challenge 1 | DE FOA 0001952

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001952

The Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) released this funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0001952) to provide small support grants to teams developing new algorithmic approaches for electric grid optimization, specifically for participation in Challenge 1 of the Grid Optimization (GO) Competition. In practical terms, this is not a typical grant aimed at building and deploying a utility-grade software product right away. Instead, it is designed to fund focused research and development of solution techniques that will be submitted into an ARPA-E run competition, where entries are evaluated head-to-head on standardized, realistic datasets in a controlled setting. Any team that receives an award under this FOA is required to compete in GO Competition Challenge 1.

Challenge 1 is an algorithm competition centered on the security-constrained optimal power flow (SCOPF) problem, a core and difficult optimization task used in power system operations. SCOPF is about finding an economically efficient operating point for the grid while respecting physical constraints (like transmission limits) and reliability requirements (being able to handle contingencies such as equipment failures). ARPA-E frames this as a foundational piece of grid operations where better algorithms can translate into real-world operational value, especially as the grid becomes more complex and more constrained.

A major theme of the FOA is that the software foundations of grid operations were largely built for a system dominated by conventional generation and transmission, and that paradigm struggles to accurately and efficiently incorporate newer resources like distributed energy resources (DERs), variable renewables (wind and solar), and energy storage. These resources have different operational characteristics and introduce additional uncertainty and variability, and existing tools often handle them with simplifying assumptions that can limit their value. ARPA-E argues that grid resilience and flexibility increasingly depend on being able to model and optimize a far more diverse resource portfolio quickly and accurately, including during extreme events, restoration, and other dynamic operating conditions. The GO Competition is positioned as a way to accelerate modernization of grid software by pushing advances in the underlying simulation, optimization, and control methods.

The GO Competition itself is structured as a series of challenges, each ending with a Final Event where entrants are judged on performance, speed, and efficiency. Winners are announced after each final event and receive awards as part of the prize structure. Importantly, participation in Challenge 1 is not limited to grant recipients. The competition is open to any eligible participant who meets the requirements in the official rules posted on the GO Competition website. ARPA-E distinguishes between "Open Entrants," who participate without receiving this grant funding, and "Proposal Entrants" (the awardees under this FOA), who receive grant support specifically to develop and submit their algorithmic approach for Challenge 1.

A key goal of these support grants is to broaden who participates in grid optimization innovation. While the problem is rooted in power systems, ARPA-E explicitly encourages teams from a wider set of disciplines such as operations research, applied mathematics, optimization algorithms, and control theory. The intent is to attract unconventional or cross-disciplinary approaches that might outperform traditional methods on this class of mathematical programs, and to increase diversity of expertise among competing teams.

Administrative details from the posting include that this is a discretionary grant under CFDA 81.135 in the science and technology / R&D category, issued by ARPA-E within DOE. Eligibility is described as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to any clarifications in the full FOA text. The FOA was created July 24, 2018, with full applications due by 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time on September 7, 2018, and applicants were encouraged to submit at least 48 hours before the deadline. The award ceiling listed is $250,000, with an expectation of around 20 awards.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted R&D funding mechanism tied directly to a competition-based evaluation framework. ARPA-E is using relatively modest grants to seed a larger competitive effort aimed at identifying breakthrough algorithmic methods for SCOPF and, more broadly, catalyzing a new generation of grid software capable of supporting a modern, resilient grid with high penetrations of emerging technologies.

• The Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Support Grants for Participation in ARPA-E Grid Optimization (GO) Competition Challenge 1" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.135.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 24, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 07, 2018 Full Applications are due by 930 a.m. ET on September 7, 2018. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their applications at least 48 hours in advance of the submission deadline.. (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 $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 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 0001952

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