About this archived opportunity

The Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (ARPA-E) is considering issuing a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to catalyze transformative breakthroughs in domestic energy and critical minerals extraction. This initiative aims to achieve step-change improvements by developing and field-validating integrated stimulation and enhanced recovery technologies for low-permeability subsurface formations, reducing both costs and wastewater generation. This Teaming Partner List announcement facilitates the formation of new project teams to respond to the potential NOFO. Any NOFO issued in the future would provide specific program goals, technical metrics, and selection criteria. If there are any inconsistencies between this announcement and the potential NOFO, the NOFO language would be controlling. This potential NOFO aims to address persistent technical barriers that impede efficient recovery from diverse low-permeability subsurface resources, including unconventional oil and gas, geothermal energy, and mineral systems. The program’s goal is to double the per-well recovery efficiency (or recovery factors) of energy and critical minerals from low-permeability formations, while maintaining or reducing both per-unit cost and wastewater volumes relative to state-of-the-art. Achieving this goal requires innovative approaches to stimulation and enhanced recovery processes supported by rigorous laboratory experiments, numerical modeling, and downhole monitoring. After successful laboratory proof-of-concept, technologies would undergo field validation to ensure a practical path to real-world deployment. Applicants can choose from one of two categories: Category A (Shale and Tight Oil & Gas) and Category B (Other Low-Permeability Subsurface Resources). ARPA-E anticipates that Category A will comprise the majority of projects selected under this potential program. Success will not only revolutionize subsurface resource recovery but also contribute to ARPA-E’s goals of reducing foreign energy imports and enhancing energy infrastructure resilience. Expertise in the following areas may be useful in responding to a potential NOFO: Reservoir, Petroleum, and/or Mining Engineering Geology and Geochemistry Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Material Science Numerical Modeling and Data Science Sensors and Instrumentation Technoeconomic Analysis Commercial Deployment (e.g., oil and gas companies, geothermal developers, mining firms with access to field sites, permitting experience) ARPA-E strongly encourages outstanding scientists and engineers from different organizations, scientific disciplines, and technology sectors to form new project teams. Interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration spanning organizational boundaries enables and accelerates scientific and technological outcomes that were previously viewed as extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. The Teaming Partner List is now available on ARPA-E eXCHANGE (http://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov), ARPA-E’s online application portal. The Teaming Partner List will be updated periodically until the close of the Full Application period to reflect new Teaming Partners who have provided their information. Any organization that would like to be included on this list should complete all required fields in the following form: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/Applicantprofile.aspx. Required information includes Organization Name, Contact Name, Contact Address, Contact Email, Contact Phone, Organization Type, Area of Technical Expertise, and Brief Description of Capabilities. By submitting your information to this Teaming Partner List, you consent to the publication of the above-referenced information. By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, ARPA-E does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify for placement on the Teaming Partner List. ARPA-E will not pay for the provision of any information, nor will it compensate any respondents for the development of such information. Responses submitted to email addresses or by other means will not be considered. Participation in and utilization of this list is completely voluntary. ARPA-E will not identify or facilitate connections through the Teaming Partner List and participation in the list has no bearing whatsoever on the evaluation of applications submitted to the potential funding opportunity. This list does not constitute a NOFO. A NOFO does not exist at this time. Applicants must refer to the NOFO, expected to be issued Spring 2026, for instructions on submitting an application and for details on how projects will be funded.

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