On April 16, 2014, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) released its draft Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects Loan Guarantee Solicitation for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. The solicitation is expected to make up to $4 billion in loan guarantees available for innovative renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in the U.S. that avoid, reduce or sequester greenhouse gases.
While any innovative renewable energy or energy efficiency project that reduces greenhouse gas emissions may qualify under the proposed program, the DOE has identified the following five technology areas of interest under the solicitation:
- Advanced Grid Integration and Storage, including renewable energy generation; smart grid systems; micro grid projects; and storage projects;
- Drop-In Biofuels, including new bio-refineries that produce gasoline, diesel fuel or jet fuel; bio-crude refining processes; and modifications to existing ethanol facilities to gasoline, diesel fuel or jet fuel;
- Waste-to-Energy, including municipal solid waste to electricity; methane from landfills or ranches via biodigesters to heat and power; crop waste to energy and bioproducts; and forestry waste to energy potentially via cofiring;
- Enhancement of Existing Facilities, including incorporation of power production into currently non-powered dams; inclusion of variable speed pump-turbines into existing hydro facilities; and retrofitting existing wind turbines; and
- Efficiency Improvements, including those which improve or reduce energy usage in residential, institutional and commercial facilities, buildings or processes; recover, store or dispatch energy from curtailed or underutilized renewable energy sources; recover, store or dispatch waste energy from thermal, mechanical, electrical, chemical or hydro-processes; and dispatch, control or stabilize intermittent power to large transmission lines, smart grids and micro grids.
Comments on the draft solicitation are due by May 16, 2014. The final solicitation is expected to be issued by the DOE in June. A copy of the draft solicitation is available at: http://energy.gov/lpo/downloads/draft-solicitation-april-16-2014.
For more information regarding this alert, please contact one of the following MMM attorneys in our Energy, Infrastructure and P3 practice group.