DECD0000084

American Cast Iron Pipe Company (AMERICAN) will retrofit its Birmingham, Alabama, facility through the installation of four medium frequency coreless induction furnaces and three channel induction holding furnaces as subsequent direct replacements of the existing single cupola furnace, two channel induction holding furnaces, and six small superheating low-frequency coreless induction furnaces.

This project will contribute to shifting the iron and steel industry towards low-carbon production methods with lower operational costs by demonstrating electric heating methods for iron melting required for manufacturing ductile iron pipe (DIP).

This project will enable broader scrap metal options, reduce waste, and eliminate coke consumption.

Through this project, AMERICAN will maximize the flow of project benefits to surrounding disadvantaged communities by reducing air pollutant emissions from the facility, upskilling existing workers, and providing effective two-way community and labor engagement through the creation of the Community and Labor Engagement Task Force and Community Engagement Council.

The project will invest in economic and workforce opportunities with the creation of construction and new permanent high paying jobs with above-average prevailing wages and benefits, and opportunities for personal and professional development and advancement through the company’s various learning programs, including an apprentice program for current and future employees.

**Key Project Objectives:**

1. Install and commence commercial operations of four 35-MT 20.8-MW electric induction melting furnaces and three 165-MT 2-MW electric induction holding furnaces to produce DIP without foundry coke at the Birmingham, Alabama, facility.

2. Demonstrate, quantify, and verify gate-to-gate reductions in carbon intensity (i.e., carbon dioxide equivalent per ton of ductile iron pipe produced) of at least 50% associated with overall facility process emissions (and at least 90% for the melting hold process) compared to 2022 baseline levels.

3. Demonstrate, quantify, and verify cradle-to-gate reductions in carbon intensity associated with facility process and upstream emissions.

4. Support labor upskilling through collaboration with workforce development and educational partners, including minority-serving institutions, Wallace State Community College’s Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) program, Auburn University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa.

Use AMERICAN’s current apprenticeship program to train employees on newly purchased and installed equipment.

Implement activities to ensure equitable pathways to employment for underrepresented communities, including through recruitment efforts, and create an estimated 80 new permanent regular full-time jobs for this project and future projects to increase downstream capacity.

5. Implement a robust Community and Labor Engagement Task Force and Community Engagement Council to establish feedback mechanisms to ensure effective and transparent two-way engagement.

These community advisory bodies will help coordinate and track community benefits commitments and ensure effective collaboration with community stakeholders to gather input on the project that benefits the surrounding community.

American Cast Iron Pipe Company

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE) IS RELEASING THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA) TO SOLICIT APPLICATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT (IIJA), ALSO KNOWN AS THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW (BIL), AND THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT OF 2022 (IRA). WHEN COMBINED WITH PRIVATE SECTOR COST SHARE, THIS FOA REPRESENTS A MORE THAN $12 BILLION OPPORTUNITY TO CATALYZE HIGH-IMPACT, LARGE-SCALE, TRANSFORMATIONAL ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS (GHG) EMISSIONS IN ENERGY-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIAL SUBSECTORS. U.S. INDUSTRY IS A BACKBONE OF THE NATION’S ECONOMY, PRODUCING THE GOODS CRITICAL TO EVERYDAY LIFE, EMPLOYING MILLIONS OF AMERICANS IN HIGH-QUALITY JOBS, AND PROVIDING AN ECONOMIC ANCHOR FOR THOUSANDS OF COMMUNITIES. YET THE ENERGY- AND CARBON-INTENSITY OF THE SECTOR, WHICH CONTRIBUTES NEARLY ONE THIRD OF THE NATION’S PRIMARY ENERGY-RELATED CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS, POSES A SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE AS THE ECONOMY TRANSITIONS TOWARDS NET-ZERO. THIS FOA OFFERS A CRITICAL OPPORTUNITY TO SOLIDIFY A “FIRST-MOVER” ADVANTAGE FOR U.S. INDUSTRY, BOLSTERING ITS COMPETITIVENESS GLOBALLY FOR DECADES INTO THE FUTURE. ACTIVITIES FUNDED UNDER THIS FOA ARE FURTHER EXPECTED TO CREATE GOOD-PAYING JOBS FOR AMERICAN WORKERS, OFFER OPPORTUNITIES FOR BROADLY SHARED PROSPERITY IN COMMUNITIES, AND ENABLE A CLEAN, MORE EQUITABLE FUTURE FOR ALL AMERICANS. DEMONSTRATING THE TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL VIABILITY OF INDUSTRIAL DECARBONIZATION APPROACHES WILL PROMOTE WIDESPREAD TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION AND DRIVE A U.S. EDGE IN LOW- AND NET-ZERO CARBON MANUFACTURING WHILE HELPING TO SUBSTANTIATE A MARKET FOR LOW-CARBON PRODUCTS. TO MAXIMIZE THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL FOR THESE FUNDS, DOE WILL PRIORITIZE A PORTFOLIO OF PROJECTS THAT OFFER: DEEP DECARBONIZATION, BY DEMONSTRATING SIGNIFICANTLY LESS CARBON-INTENSIVE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION PROCESSES LEADING TO MATERIALS THAT CAN BE LABELED AS HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER LEVELS OF EMBODIED GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS; TIMELINESS, THROUGH RAPID TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATIONS THAT CAN ADDRESS EMISSIONS IN THE NEAR-TERM, MEET FUNDING HORIZONS, AND BE REPLICATED BY FAST FOLLOWERS; MARKET VIABILITY, WITH TECHNOLOGICAL APPROACHES DESIGNED TO SPUR FOLLOW-ON INVESTMENTS FOR WIDESPREAD DECARBONIZATION AS WELL AS PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN BUYERS AND SELLERS OF THE MATERIALS PRODUCED, WITH SPECIAL CONSIDERATION GIVEN TO INDUSTRIES THAT ARE FOCUSING ON SHIFTING ENTIRE ECOSYSTEMS AND ENABLING NEW MARKET STRUCTURES FOR LOW-CARBON PRODUCTS; AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS, TAILORED THROUGH SUBSTANTIAL ENGAGEMENT WITH LOCAL AND REGIONAL STAKEHOLDERS, AS WELL AS LABOR UNIONS AND TRIBAL NATIONS ACROSS THE PROJECT LIFECYCLE, SUPPORTING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES. DOE EXPECTS TO AWARD UP TO APPROXIMATELY 55 PROJECTS IN HIGH GHG-EMITTING INDUSTRIES AND FOR CROSS-CUTTING TECHNOLOGIES AS DISCUSSED IN SECTION 1.3 OF THE FOA. DOE ANTICIPATES PROVIDING AWARDS TO TEAMS THAT ARE LED BY A SINGLE, FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION OR OWNER/OPERATOR OF AN ELIGIBLE FACILITY AND ENCOURAGES APPLICANTS TO STRENGTHEN PROJECTS BY PARTNERING WITH EXPERTS, UNIVERSITIES, LABOR UNIONS, COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS, PRODUCT OFF-TAKERS, AND/OR NATIONAL LABORATORIES, AS OUTLINED IN SECTION 3.0 OF THE FOA. GIVEN THE TRANSFORMATIVE POTENTIAL OF THESE FUNDS, DOE SEEKS FIRST- OR EARLY-OF-A-KIND COMMERCIAL-SCALE PROJECTS. THESE COULD INCLUDE NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT HAVE BEEN PROVEN AT A PILOT SCALE BUT HAVE YET TO BE DEPLOYED COMMERCIALLY, TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE BEING PURSUED INTERNATIONALLY BUT DO NOT HAVE A FOOTHOLD IN THE U.S., OR OTHER EARLY-OF-A-KIND PROJECTS THAT FACE MARKET OR ADOPTION RISKS. ALL PROJECTS SHOULD INCORPORATE A PATH FROM DEMONSTRATION TO DEPLOYMENT THAT INCLUDES SUSTAINED OPERATION AFTER COMPLETION AND SUBSTANTIATE THE PROJECTS’ ABILITY TO MEET PRIORITY CRITERIA. DOE WILL APPLY THE FOLLOWING FOUR-PHASE STRUCTURE FOR PROJECTS SELECTED UNDER THIS FOA: PHASE 1 WILL ENCOMPASS INITIAL PLANNING AND ANALYSIS ACTIVITIES TO ENSURE THAT THE OVERALL CONCEPT IS TECHNOLOGICALLY AND FINANCIALLY VIABLE. PHASE 2 WILL FINALIZE ENGINEERING DESIGNS AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, SITE ACCESS, LABOR AGREEMENTS, NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (NEPA) REVIEW, PERMITTING, AND OFFTAKE AGREEMENTS. PHASE 3 WILL ENCOMPASS INSTALLATION, INTEGRATION, AND CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES. PHASE 4 WILL RAMP-UP TO FULL OPERATIONS INCLUDING DATA COLLECTION TO ANALYZE THE PLANT’S OPERATIONS, PERFORMANCE, AND FINANCIAL VIABILITY. NOTE: THIS FOA SOLICITS PLANS FOR ALL FOUR PHASES OF PROPOSED ACTIVITIES; PROJECTS THAT HAVE COMPLETED INITIAL PHASES WILL BE ELIGIBLE TO UNDERGO ACCELERATED EARLY REVIEWS FOR DUE DILIGENCE. DOE WILL WORK WITH PROJECT PERFORMERS TO TAILOR THEIR SPECIFIC APPROACH AFTER SELECTIONS AND ANTICIPATES THAT IMPLEMENTATION APPROACHES WILL VARY BETWEEN PROJECTS. ALL PROJECTS SELECTED UNDER THIS FOA WILL BE ELIGIBLE TO COMPLETE ALL FOUR PHASES PENDING SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION OF MILESTONES; DOE IS NOT PLANNING A COMPETITIVE DOWN-SELECT PROCESS AMONG PROJECTS AFTER AWARDS. HOWEVER, TO MANAGE RISK DOE WILL REGULARLY REVIEW AND EVALUATE PROJECTS’ PROGRESS ON DELIVERABLES THROUGH GO / NO-GO REVIEWS THAT WILL OCCUR BETWEEN OR WITHIN PHASES.

81.255 - Clean Energy Demonstrations

Department of Energy (DOE)

Birmingham, Alabama 35207-4110 United States

Single Zip Code

Industrial Decarbonization and Emissions Reduction Demonstration-to-Deployment Funding Opportunity Announcement (DE-FOA-0002936)

Termination This cooperative agreement was reported as terminated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in July 2025. See All