DOE to Fund up to $50 Million for Innovative, Cost-Competitive Solar Energy
Today, the Department of Energy issued a Notice of Intent regarding funding of up to $50 million to test and demonstrate innovative technologies that will lead to cost-competitive solar energy technologies. The Nevada National Security Site will be the test site for cutting-edge solar technologies which can be deployed in the Southwest areas of the United States where there is an abundance of solar energy.
The Funding Opportunity Announcement (Reference Number DE-FOA-0000233) won’t be issued until early next year but you can look at the Notice of Intent by going to https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/ and plugging in the Reference Number. Stay tuned for more information via this blog or in a client alert.
DOE Extends Application Deadline for FOA on Combined Heat and Power Technologies
Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued a revised Funding Opportunity Announcement (“FOA”) of up to $40 million to speed up the development and implementation of combined heat and power (“CHP”) technologies. The FOA covers large, medium, and small CHP systems and aims to finance research, development, and demonstration of stationary CHP systems that focus on increasing efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The FOA intends to facilitate development of technologies that are highly efficient, capable of meeting future emissions requirements, and able to substitute for or reduce natural gas usage. The deadline for applications has been extended to July 21, 2009. For more information on this FOA, go to Grants.gov.
Show me the Money: Mandatory Registrations to be Eligible for Stimulus Funding
In general, parties that are considering applying for Stimulus Act funding for their project must preregister at the following websites:
- Applicants must obtain a Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System number (DUNS)
DUNS website: http://www.dnb.com/US/duns_update/ - Applicants must register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR)
CCR website: http://www.ccr.gov/ - Applicants must register with FedConnect to submit their application.
FedConnect website: www.fedconnect.net
Numerous parties have reported that these websites may take several days to process registration requests. As such, I recommend that you register immediately if you are considering federal funding as a component of your project.
If you have trouble completing your registration in time for an application deadline, please use the following phone numbers to inquire about your registration status:
- DUNS Customer Assistance: 1-800-234-3867
- CCR Assistance Center: 1-888-227-2423
- FedConnect Support: 1-800-899-6665
Show me the Money: Carbon Capture and Benficial Carbon Dioxide Use
On June 8, 2009, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (“FOA”) to deploy over $1.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“Recovery Act”) to be used to lower our nation’s carbon emissions. The FOA will support projects in two areas: (1) the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources, and (2) demonstration of innovative concepts for beneficial CO2 use.
Applications under this FOA are Due August 7, 2009.
Show Me the Money: Renewable Energy Financing in the Farm Bill
In an earlier blog, my colleague, Debra Frimerman reported about the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). REAP provides grants and loan guarantees to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase renewable energy systems, make energy efficiency improvements and conduct feasibility studies for renewable energy systems.
REAP is a program under the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the "2008 Farm Bill"). The 2008 Farm Bill also includes numerous other programs to help develop renewable energy in rural areas and promote the production of sustainable feedstocks for renewable energy production. Please see this recent alert for specifics.
$480 Million Available for Integrated Biorefinery Projects
Last week DOE released a new funding opportunity announcement for up to $480 million for pilot-scale and demonstration-scale integrated biorefinery projects. An integrated biorefinery uses an “acceptable feedstock” to produce a biofuel or bioproduct as the “primary product.” Acceptable feedstocks include:
- Algae
- Certain woody biomass
- Renewable plant materials so long as it is not generally intended for use as food
- Crop reside (cobs, stover, etc.)
- Yard and food waste
- Certain post-sorted MSW
The projects must be either pilot-scale (processing at least one dry tonne of feedstock per day) or demonstration-scale (processing at least 50 dry tonnes of feedstock per day).
The maximum award for a pilot-scale project is $25 million and the maximum award for a demonstration-scale project is $50 million. Generally, the cost share requirements from non-Federal sources are 20% for pilot-scale projects and 50% for demonstration-scale projects.
Applications are due June 30, 2009. Although not required, DOE suggests all prospective applicants submit a notice of intent to apply, which can be submitted through May 29, 2009.
Visit www.grants.gov or www.fedconnect.net for more information on this opportunity.
$150 Million to Fund ARPA-E Transformation Energy R&D Projects
On April 27, 2009, the first Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) was announced offering up to $150 million to fund transformation energy research and development projects. These funds are part of the $400 million appropriated to ARPA-E under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Individual awards of $500,000 to $20 million are available to eligible projects. This FOA is aimed at projects that have a well-formed R&D plan that can make a significant contribution towards enhancing the economic and energy security of the United States by reducing imported energy, reducing energy-related gases, including GHG, and improving energy efficiency.
To be eligible, an interested applicant must submit a concept paper to ARPA-E that briefly outlines the technical concept for its project between May 12 and June 2. Early submission is strongly encouraged. Successful applicants will then be asked to submit full applications. More information on this FOA is available at www.grants.gov.
Stimulus Bill Funding for Data Center and Telecom Technology Energy Efficiency, Smart Grid, Enhanced Geothermal Systems, and More
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the “Stimulus Bill,” allocated billions of dollars in funding for renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, and other projects under the energy and climate change umbrella. Of the vast sums of money available for such projects, $16.8 billion goes to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (“EERE”). Another $4.5 billion in direct spending on smart grid demonstration projects will be overseen by DOE’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability.
On March 5th, DOE’s EERE Industrial Technologies Program (“ITP”) released a Notice of Intent to issue funding for technologies that increase the energy efficiency of server-based information and communication technology (“ICT”) systems housed in data centers and telecommunications central offices. The solicitation seeks proposals for projects that would increase the efficiency of IT equipment, software, power systems, and cooling systems. The solicitation also extends to the demonstration and field-testing of pre-commercial technologies in these areas, as well as in distributed generation or alternative power technologies used to power ICT systems. ITP intends to release the solicitation sometime this month.
DOE also recently announced its intention to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (“FOA”) for smart grid demonstrations. In addition, DOE issued two FOAs for enhanced geothermal systems (“EGS”). The EGS FOAs offer up to $84 million over six years, including $20 million for the 2009 fiscal year. Check out our recent Energy Law Alert for more information on DOE funding for smart grid demonstrations and enhanced geothermal systems.
Because of the relatively short window for responding to FOAs, DOE recommends that prospective applicants complete several one-time pre-application steps. Information on submitting applications is available at www.grants.gov.
