[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 92 (Monday, May 13, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32025-32026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-11916]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


National Energy Technology Laboratory; Notice of Availability of 
a Financial Assistance Solicitation

AGENCY: National Energy Technology Laboratory, Department of Energy 
(DOE).

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Financial Assistance Solicitation.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the intent to issue Financial 
Assistance Solicitation No. DE-PS26-02NT41488 entitled Gas Storage 
Program. The Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Energy Technology 
Laboratory (NETL), through the Strategic Center for Natural Gas (SCNG), 
is conducting this solicitation to competitively seek cost-shared 
applications for research and technology development efforts to enhance 
operational flexibility and deliverability of the Nation's gas storage 
system, and provide a cost-effective, safe, and reliable supply of 
natural gas to meet demand in new and expanded market regions.

DATES: The solicitation will be available on the ``Industry Interactive 
Procurement System'' (IIPS) Web page located at http://e-center.doe.gov 
on or about May 8, 2002. Applicants can obtain access to the 
solicitation from the address above or through DOE/NETL's Web site at 
http://www.netl.doe.gov/business.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Debra A. Duncan, MS 921-107, U.S. 
Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, 626 
Cochrans Mill Road, P.O. Box 10940, Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0940, E-mail 
Address: [email protected], Telephone Number: 412-386-5700.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gas Storage Program supports the 
Strategic Center for Natural Gas' 2020 Vision of the U.S. public 
enjoying benefits (affordable supply, reliable delivery, and 
environmental protection) from an increase in gas use. Most natural gas 
consumed in the U.S. is not produced in the areas where it is most 
needed. To get gas to the customers, the Nation uses 1.5 million miles 
of natural gas pipelines capable of moving 111 billion cubic feet (Bcf) 
of gas daily. However, the amount of gas needed varies at time scales 
much shorter than can be accommodated by the production and pipeline 
systems. In general, demand varies seasonally, but the exact timing and 
magnitude of peak demand is largely determined by the weather, and is 
therefore unpredictable. As a result, gas is injected into more than 
400 storage reservoirs, located near the points of demand, each year 
from April through October. Roughly 3.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of 
storage gas is available to help meet peak demands. Pipelines and 
storage work together to comprise a natural gas distribution system 
that efficiently balances the need for steady year-round production 
with seasonal variation in use.
    All projections of the Nation's near-term energy future call for 
increased use of natural gas. Gas consumption, now roughly 22 Tcf per 
year, could grow to more than 30 Tcf per year by 2015. As much as 50 
percent of the new gas demand will come from the electric-generation 
sector, as new plants capitalize on the economic and environmental 
benefits of gas. This expansion in both the volume and nature of gas 
use will place significant new burdens on the Nation's pipeline and gas 
storage systems. These challenges require significant investment in R&D 
at a time when the gas industry is focusing on reducing

[[Page 32026]]

costs and improving profits in a competitive marketplace. The goal of 
the transmission and storage work at NETL is to develop the 
technologies needed to ensure both the reliability and flexibility of 
the Nation's critical gas distribution infrastructure as it adapts to 
changing supply and demand characteristics.
    Research in gas storage conducted at NETL focuses on two main 
issues. First, NETL works cooperatively with storage operators to 
demonstrate technologies to preserve and improve the deliverability of 
existing conventional underground storage reservoirs. This work focuses 
on technologies to limit and remediate the progressive damage caused by 
the repeated injection and withdrawal of gas, as well as innovative 
management techniques that can maximize performance. Second, not all 
areas of high gas demand possess natural underground reservoirs that 
can support the local storage needs. Therefore, NETL is working to 
develop advanced storage concepts that utilize man-made structures such 
as underground mined caverns and other non-traditional means that can 
be located where needed
    The objective of the National Energy Technology Laboratory's 
(NETL's) Natural Gas Storage rogram, and this solicitation, is to 
encourage and support research and technology development to advance 
natural gas storage, transmission, and distribution technologies to 
enhance operational flexibility and deliverability of the Nation's gas 
storage system, and provide a cost-effective, safe, and reliable supply 
of natural gas to meet demand in new and expanded market regions. To 
achieve program objectives, DOE/NETL, through the Strategic Center for 
Natural Gas, is requesting applications addressing, but not limited to, 
the following topics: (1) Thin-bedded salt cavern design technology--
seeks proposals to investigate long-term geotechnical integrity of 
bedded salt cavern designs. The ability to develop stable gas storage 
caverns in thinly bedded salt could have implications for new storage 
capacity in the Eastern, Northeast, and Midwest United States. Proposed 
research could include geologic analysis, failure analysis and 
definition, and improved geotechnical design to mitigate possible 
failure; (2) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Applications in Gas Storage--
seeks proposals to investigate applications of LNG for conventional 
storage and distributed, or peaking power generation; (3) Hydrate 
Control--seeks proposals for control of natural gas hydrates formed in 
storage wells and gathering lines during rapid withdrawal operations; 
and (4) Deliverability enhancement--seeks proposals that will increase 
deliverability from aquifers and depleted oil and gas reservoirs. This 
could include ``smart'' storage systems that will optimize storage 
field operations.
    Proposed approaches are anticipated to develop new or novel 
technologies, or suggest innovative applications of existing 
technologies. Efforts can encompass any combination of theory, 
laboratory validation of concepts, or field validation of concepts. The 
overall goal of this solicitation shall be to work toward a 
demonstration of the technology at a commercially scalable size.
    DOE anticipates multiple cooperative agreement awards resulting 
from the solicitation and no fee or profit will be paid to a Recipient 
or Subrecipient under the awards. However, the Government reserves the 
right to fund, in whole or in part, any, all, or none of the 
applications submitted in response to this solicitation and will award 
that number of financial assistance instruments which serves the public 
purpose and is in the best interest of the Government. At current 
planning levels, and subject to the availability of funds, DOE expects 
to provide up to approximately $700,000 over the life of the projects 
to support work under this solicitation. This particular program is 
covered by section 3001 and 3002 of the Energy Policy Act (EPAct), 42 
U.S.C. 13542 for financial assistance awards. EPAct 3002 requires a 
cost-share commitment of at least twenty (20) percent from non-Federal 
sources for research and development projects. Cost sharing must meet 
the requirements of 10 CFR 600.123 and 10 CFR 600.224. Allowable costs 
for cost sharing shall be in accordance with 10 CFR 600.127 and 10 CFR 
600.222. The particular program is also covered by Section 2306 of 
EPAct, 42 U.S.C. 13525 for financial assistance awards. In order for a 
company to be eligible for an award under this solicitation, the 
Applicant must be a United States-owned company. If the Applicant is 
not a United States-owned company, it must be incorporated or organized 
in a foreign country that affords treatment to United States-owned 
companies that is comparable to treatment the United States affords 
foreign-owned companies. This eligibility requirement also applies to 
all companies participating in any joint venture, ``team'' arrangement, 
or as a major subcontractor. The solicitation will contain as part of 
the application package the applicable EPAct representation form(s). 
Applications which include performance of Federal agencies and agents 
(i.e. Management and Operations (M&O) contractors and/or National 
Laboratories) as a subcontractor will be acceptable under this 
solicitation if the proposed use of any such entities is specifically 
authorized by the executive Federal agency managing the M&O or National 
Laboratory, and the work is not otherwise available from the private 
sector. Such work, if approved, would be accomplished through a direct 
transfer of funding from the NETL to the M&O contractor and/or National 
Laboratory. Even though participation of an M&O and/or National 
Laboratory may be appropriate, their participation cannot exceed forty-
nine (49) percent of the Applicant's total estimated project cost. The 
Government anticipates the maximum project period of twenty-four (24) 
months. This however does not preclude projects of a longer or shorter 
duration. Awards will have annual budget periods. Each annual budget 
period shall contain ``continuation decision points.'' Once released, 
the solicitation will be available for downloading from the IIPS 
Internet page. At this Internet site you will also be able to register 
with IIPS, enabling you to submit an application. If you need technical 
assistance in registering or for any other IIPS function, call the IIPS 
Help Desk at (800) 683-0751 or E-mail the Help Desk personnel at 
center.doe.gov">IIPS_HelpDesk@e-center.doe.gov. The solicitation will only be made 
available in IIPS, no hard (paper) copies of the solicitation and 
related documents will be made available.
    Prospective applicants who would like to be notified as soon as the 
solicitation is available should subscribe to the Business Alert 
Mailing List at http://www.netl.doe.gov/business. Once you subscribe, 
you will receive an announcement by E-mail that the solicitation has 
been released to the public. Telephone requests, written requests, E-
mail requests, or facsimile requests for a copy of the solicitation 
package will not be accepted and/or honored. Applications must be 
prepared and submitted in accordance with the instructions and forms 
contained in the solicitation. The actual solicitation document will 
allow for requests for explanation and/or interpretation.

    Issued in Pittsburgh, PA, on May 6, 2002.
Dale A. Siciliano,
Deputy Director, Acquisition and Assistance Division.
[FR Doc. 02-11916 Filed 5-10-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P