The Energy Department is preparing to award another $1 billion in grants to companies developing and deploying smart grid technologies.
The biofuels money will include $450 million for demonstration biorefineries, says DOE's Sanjay Wagle
The grants will be announced soon, along with another $800 million earmarked for companies converting biomass into biofuels, said Sanjay Wagle, renewable energy adviser at the Department of Energy.
Speculation is the smart grid money could be released within the next couple weeks. Already the energy department has doled out $3.4 billion in smart grid funding to 100 projects in an announcement it made late last month.
Wagle, during an appearance at the Dow Jones Alternative Energy Innovations conference in Silicon Valley, declined to say which companies would win the awards. But he said the grants would focus on encouraging demonstration projects involving utilities and consumers. It is believed California companies may benefit from this second grant announcement more than from the first.
Included in the biofuels funding will be $450 million set aside for demonstration refineries, he said.
The two awards are among the largest grant allocation remaining from $36 billion in recovery act funding the Energy Department has been steering to new energy companies. Eighty-five percent of the funds have now been dispersed, though major loan guarantees and tax credits remain.
Wagle said three new loan guarantees have been approved, but not yet announced. The department’s first loan guarantee of $535 million went to the solar company Solyndra earlier this year.
Another dozen loan guarantee candidates are in the pipeline, he said.
Here’s another word of advice which could aid people. It is difficult to locate grants to begin a business. Unlike the myths which some perpetuate, the federal government and private foundations almost never offer grant money for a for-profit enterprise.