SHARKS SBIR/STTR | DE FOA 0002335

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002335

The SHARKS SBIR/STTR opportunity (Submarine Hydrokinetic and Riverine Kilo-Megawatt Systems) is a funding call from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) focused on next-generation hydrokinetic turbines (HKTs) that generate electricity from moving water in tidal and river currents. ARPA-E was created to push high-risk, high-reward energy technologies that are still too early for typical private investment, with the broader national goals of improving U.S. energy and economic security, reducing energy-related emissions, cutting dependence on foreign energy imports, and keeping the United States at the front of advanced energy innovation. In practical terms, ARPA-E is looking for ideas that can change the cost and performance trajectory of an energy technology, not just incremental improvements along existing industry roadmaps.

Within that mission, SHARKS targets a specific gap in marine and river energy: making hydrokinetic systems economically attractive and scalable while staying reliable and environmentally responsible. Tidal and riverine resources are renewable and, importantly, highly predictable compared to many other renewables. They are also often near demand centers (coastal cities, ports, river corridors), and the devices themselves can be designed with low visual impact because they operate in the water. ARPA-E highlights use cases that range from powering remote communities and microgrids to supporting the "blue economy" (maritime industry, ports, coastal infrastructure) and even utility-scale applications, provided the technology can achieve major cost reductions and operational practicality.

The central technical theme of SHARKS is integrated design: ARPA-E wants applicants to rethink turbine systems using Control Co-Design (CCD), broader Co-Design (CD), and Designing-for-OpEx (DFO). The idea is that many of the hardest problems in hydrokinetic devices are tightly coupled, so designing components in isolation (for example, designing blades first and controls later, or optimizing structure without considering maintenance realities) tends to lock in cost and performance penalties. CCD and CD push teams to develop hydrodynamics, structures, materials, power conversion, and control strategies together from the earliest concept stage. DFO adds a strong emphasis on operating expenditures, meaning designs should be created with real-world inspection, maintenance, reliability, and servicing logistics in mind, not treated as an afterthought.

ARPA-E expects proposed work to span a broad set of disciplines and proof methods. Competitive projects may include new concepts and detailed engineering across hydrodynamics, mechanical structures, advanced materials, hydro-structural interaction and loading, electrical generation and power electronics, control systems, numerical simulation, and experimental validation. Because the program is trying to retire major technical risk, the FOA indicates that teams should plan for physical, in-water testing of critical systems and subsystems to validate assumptions behind the design. The focus is not purely theoretical modeling; credible experimental evidence is part of what makes a concept bankable for later scaling and deployment.

Performance is framed around a defined "metric space" that balances (1) swept rotor area per unit of equivalent system mass and (2) water-to-electron efficiency, while also explicitly navigating levelized cost of energy (LCOE) contours. In other words, ARPA-E is looking for designs that can extract more power efficiently and deliver that electricity effectively, but also do it with lighter or more materially efficient systems, because mass drives manufacturing, deployment, and maintenance costs. The program's north star is a very large reduction in LCOE (the text indicates a targeted reduction on the order of 60% relative to the current state of the art). Applicants are expected to pursue LCOE reductions through multiple levers at once: higher generation efficiency, more rotor area per unit mass, lower operating and maintenance costs, and reduced environmental impacts, among other factors.

From an applicant and award structure standpoint, this is an ARPA-E SBIR/STTR opportunity, meaning it is reserved for eligible small businesses under the federal Small Business Act framework, with the STTR path specifically encouraging formal collaboration between a small business and a research institution. ARPA-E runs SBIR/STTR in phases (Phase I, Phase II, and Phase IIB/Phase IIS depending on structure), generally moving from feasibility and concept validation to more mature prototype development and demonstration. Awards under this call are issued as grants and/or cooperative agreements, which typically means ARPA-E can have more active involvement and technical coordination than in a simple grant-only model.

Key administrative details included in the posting are: Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0002335; CFDA 81.135; eligible applicants are small businesses; the opportunity was created April 9, 2020 with an original closing date of May 27, 2020 (concept papers due by that date, with a strong recommendation to submit at least 48 hours early). The expected number of awards was 12, and the listed award ceiling was $3,677,642. Applications had to be submitted through the ARPA-E eXCHANGE system, and ARPA-E stated it would not review applications submitted through other channels. For the full requirements, templates, and submission instructions, applicants were directed to retrieve the FOA directly from ARPA-E's FOA website and consult the ARPA-E eXCHANGE user guide.

• 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 "SHARKS SBIR/STTR" 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 Apr 09, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 27, 2020 Concept Papers are due no later than May 27, 2020. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit 48 hours before the due date.. (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 $3,677,642.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Small businesses.

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