By and large, the DOE isn’t doing this research. The federal workforce primarily consists of program managers who oversee how the money is doled out, but is largely hands off on the technical aspects. DOE is the biggest non defense R&D funder in the US, and they tend to cast a wide net rather than go all in on a few select technologies.

The money goes to fund research at academic institutions and national labs, as well as tech transfer programs to private industry (think SBIR/STTR). $75M can fund a surprising amount of TRL 1-4 work needed to get a functional prototype working.