The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on June 21, 2024, released a $850 million Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to reduce methane emissions from oil and natural gas production and associated facilities. This funding was made available under the Inflation Reduction Act, and applications are due by 5 p.m. ET on Aug. 26, 2024.
There are three Areas of Interest (AOI) under the FOA:
AOI 1. The three subsections under this AOI focus on 1) existing marginal conventional wells (MCW), 2) small operators (defined as an entity generating revenue of less than $40 million per year) and 3) MCWs/small operators on tribal lands.
For each of these subsections, the EPA and DOE are looking to fund a single lead organization to develop and execute a program that facilitates the purchase and distribution of commercially available, "off-the-shelf" methane emissions mitigation technologies. These technologies aim to support effective emissions abatement from MCWs, small operators and MCWs/small operators on tribal lands.
Each lead organization will need to develop a work plan that details the sources of emissions at wells sites and associated infrastructure, together with strategies to address and reduce methane emissions, among other requirements listed in the FOA.
AO2. There are also three subsections under this AOI, this time focused on the deployment of new methane emissions reduction solutions: 1) field deployment of engine and compressor methane reduction technologies, 2) field deployment of gas flaring reduction technologies and 3) field deployment of emissions reduction technologies at oil and gas production facilities.
For each of these subsections, the EPA and DOE are looking for solutions starting at technology readiness level (TRL) 6 or 7 and achieving a TRL 8 at the end of the project. TRLs are defined in Appendix D of the FOA.
Additionally, project teams under this AOI must include a business that intends to commercialize the technology, industry partners, and well site or facility locations for field testing, among other requirements in the FOA.
AOI 3. This AOI is focused on methane monitoring solutions and has two subsections: 1) improving access to monitoring data for impacted communities and 2) regional methane emissions characterization.
The objective of AOI 3 is to accelerate the deployment of methane measurement and monitoring technologies.
Project teams under AOI 3 shall include, but are not limited to, technology solution providers, oil and natural gas operators, and disadvantaged communities. Applicants must include a work plan with an explanation of sources of emissions that the applicant plans to monitor and their respective impact, among other requirements in the FOA.
The EPA and DOE provided the following chart of each of the AOIs and subsections, with the anticipated number of awards and anticipated funding award amounts.
