Developing Technologies to Advance the Understanding of State of Stress and Geomechanical Impacts Within the Subsurface | DE FOA 0001826

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001826

The Department of Energy, through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), issued this funding opportunity to push forward practical, research-driven technologies that improve how scientists and engineers characterize stress conditions deep underground and how they anticipate rock and fault responses when fluids are injected into the subsurface. At its core, the announcement focuses on two tightly related problems: first, the difficulty of accurately measuring the in-situ maximum principal stress at depth, and second, the challenge of predicting how injection-driven pressure changes can migrate vertically and alter the state of stress across a storage complex, including adjacent layers such as the underburden and even basement formations. By targeting both measurement and prediction, the program is aimed at reducing uncertainty in geomechanical assessments that matter for safe, effective subsurface operations.

A major theme of the opportunity is the development of tools and methods that can determine the maximum principal stress in the deep subsurface with better accuracy and lower uncertainty than existing approaches. In real-world subsurface projects, stress estimates can vary widely depending on the measurement technique, assumptions about rock properties, and data quality. This FOA is looking for improved instrumentation, field methods, analysis workflows, or integrated approaches that make stress characterization more reliable. The intent is not simply to collect more data, but to make stress measurements more defensible by reducing ambiguity and quantifying uncertainty in a way that supports engineering decisions.

The second area of interest addresses how pressure migration caused by injection can change subsurface stress conditions vertically, not just laterally near the injection zone. This includes understanding how pressure can move through stratigraphic pathways, discontinuities, or transmissive features and how that pressure redistribution can alter stresses in the storage formation, the overlying and underlying formations, and the basement. The emphasis on vertical pressure migration reflects concerns that stress perturbations can extend beyond the target interval, potentially influencing seal integrity, fault stability, deformation, or induced seismicity risk depending on local geology and operational conditions. The FOA seeks methods that improve prediction and understanding of these geomechanical impacts, which could include modeling approaches, monitoring strategies, or coupled workflows that connect pressure evolution to stress changes and mechanical response.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, this was a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement structure, meaning DOE/NETL typically expects substantial involvement during the project period rather than a hands-off grant. The opportunity was identified as DE-FOA-0001826 under CFDA 81.089, categorized under energy, science and technology, and other research and development. Eligibility was listed as unrestricted, indicating that a broad range of applicants could apply (for example, universities, national labs, private companies, nonprofits, or other organizations), subject to any additional eligibility notes in the full announcement.

The FOA was created on February 26, 2018, with an original closing date of May 7, 2018. DOE anticipated making around eight awards, with an award ceiling of $2,000,000 per project. Taken together, the funding level and expected number of awards suggest an intent to support multiple parallel technical approaches rather than betting on a single solution, encouraging a portfolio of innovations that can be validated and compared across different geologic settings or operational scenarios.

In practical terms, the opportunity is best understood as supporting technologies and methods that help answer two critical subsurface questions with greater confidence: "What is the maximum principal stress at depth, and how sure are we?" and "How will injection-driven pressure changes migrate and mechanically affect the broader storage system over time?" The outcomes DOE is implicitly driving toward are better measurement confidence, improved predictive capability, and reduced geomechanical uncertainty for deep subsurface activities where stress and pressure interactions can control safety and performance.

• The Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory in the energy, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Developing Technologies to Advance the Understanding of State of Stress and Geomechanical Impacts Within the Subsurface" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.089.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 26, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 07, 2018. (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 $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 8 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.

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