China Month

Written By David Kovatch

September->October, 2024

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In September House Republicans launched “China Week”, unveiling bills to protect the country against “the military, economic, ideological, and technological threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.” Not to be outdone, we’re launching China Month, where we’ll cover the latest from Congress and provide a deep dive into the Biden Administration’s 301 tariffs on a raft of Chinese clean energy imports, with tons of charts and analysis. And of course, we’ll be serving up all of September’s clean tech federal funding awards and opportunities!

When you work in clean tech, it can feel like every week is China Week. China dominates clean energy supply chains, particularly in the solar, battery, and EV sectors, and is investing heavily in other clean tech verticals, like advanced nuclear and clean hydrogen. Clean tech investors have to balance concerns with China’s supply chain reliability, while technology developers have to be mindful of Chinese investment and supply chain exposure, particularly when seeking government funding. Meanwhile, the Administration has cracked down on clean energy imports from China under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Clean Vehicle tax credits have Chinese and other Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) sourcing restrictions, and there are calls to prohibit Chinese companies in the United States from IRA tax credits and U.S.-Mexico-Canada FTA benefits. It can be a lot to track, but we have you covered. 

🇨🇳China Week Clean Tech Takeaways: The House passed four bills with implications for the clean energy sector:  

  1. The End Chinese Dominance of EVs in America Act (H.R. 7980) would amend the IRA to expand the definition of a FEOC as it relates to the 30D clean vehicle tax credit. This legislation passed the House by a vote of 217-192, with seven moderate Democrats voting in favor. 

  2. The Science and Technology Agreement Enhanced Congressional Notification Act (H.R. 5245), passed the House by a voice vote, and would require the State Department to notify Congress 30 days ahead of any science and technology agreements with China. The bill would revoke any existing agreement unless the State Department notifies Congress within 60 days of the bill’s enactment. An identical bill was introduced by Senate Republicans and has garnered support from 15 GOP Senators. 

  3. The Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act (H.R. 8631) would prohibit the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from procuring batteries from six entities owned and operated in China: Gotion, BYD, CATL, Envision, EVE, and Hithium. 

  4. H.R. 7686 to amend the R&D Competition and Innovation Act would amend the CHIPS and Science Act to clarify the definition of a malign foreign recruitment program. Effectively, this bill would prohibit researchers who receive federal funds from participating in recruitment programs that are sponsored by a FEOC. Both of these bills passed by a voice vote. 

Analysis: While the Senate will not use floor time to consider these bills, their bipartisan support will have members pushing for their addition to a potential year end package.

Not to be outdone, the Senate advanced its own initiatives to combat Chinese influence in energy supply chains. A bipartisan group of Senators introduced legislation that would prohibit federal funding from the Clean School Bus program to manufacturers with ties to a FEOC. Senators also introduced legislation that would prohibit the IRA 45X Advanced Manufacturing credit from being claimed for components produced by FEOC, and a resolution to overturn the Treasury Department’s guidance on the 30D Clean Vehicle Tax Credit via the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Both pieces of legislation have bipartisan support. We don’t expect to see these bills garner any floor time this Congress, but could potentially come back next year if the Senate flips. 

A bipartisan group of Senators also introduced S. 5251, the "Critical Materials Future Act," to help reduce U.S. reliance on Chinese critical minerals. The bill tasks DOE with supporting at least three domestic mineral refining or recycling projects via demand-side support mechanisms like contracts for differences, price floors, advanced market commitments, and forward contracts. The bill would establish a revolving fund to reinvest revenues into new projects. Timing is probably too tight for this to move in the lame duck, but given the bipartisan support it could have real legs in the next Congress.

301 Tariff Deep Dive

The Administration didn’t sit still while Congress had its fun. USTR finalized tariffs on China, which included lots of increased duties on clean tech products and inputs. As expected, the September determination was largely unchanged from USTR’s May proposal. Before we get into those minor modifications, it’s worth digging into what didn’t change, and why.

Source: DC CleanTech, data from the U.S. Census Bureau

Enriched uranium: Domestic stakeholders called for higher tariffs on Chinese enrichment imports, but USTR declined, claiming that imports from China were relatively small and declining. But imports from China are actually increasing.

2023 saw the first U.S. imports of Chinese enriched uranium in years, and 2024 imports through July are already surpassing the whole of 2023 figure. Chinese imports are actually eating into some of Russia’s market share, which is on pace for an 18% decline from its 2023 $1.2 billion high water mark.

Meanwhile, Chinese imports of Russian enriched uranium soared at the same time.

That’s why the Department of Energy is looking into China for diverting Russian enriched uranium to the United States or for offsetting their own exports to the United States with Russian imports, in violation of the U.S. ban on Russian imports.   

Perhaps China just has excess capacity? Unlikely. According to the World Nuclear Association, China’s 2022 enriched uranium production capacity was 8.9 million SWU while its 2022 demand was 9.379 million SWU. By these figures, China is a net importer. And indeed, they have imported supplies in years past. But those import figures spiked in 2022 and 2023 beyond anticipated needs, with Russia making up the overwhelming majority of supply and coinciding with the jump in Chinese exports to the United States. 

Source: DC CleanTech, data from the International Trade Centre

Electric Vehicles and Lithium-ion Batteries: USTR also upheld its May proposal to enact tariffs on Chinese EVs (100% in 2024), and Chinese lithium-ion batteries (25% in 2024 for EV batteries; 25% in 2026 for non-EV batteries). You can see why USTR decided to act decisively here. Imports from China in all three categories have spiked over the past few years, particularly in the battery stationary storage sector, where Chinese imports were worth nearly $11 billion last year, up more than 10x from just 6 years prior.

Source: DC CleanTech, data from the U.S. Census Bureau

EV batteries are also growing rapidly, though from a smaller base. EVs themselves are a minor import category, and the whopping 100% tariff will shield U.S. automakers from the recent wave of high-quality, low price EVs that have spooked U.S. OEMs. Let’s put this in context. 100% is a massive duty, the highest 301 tariff leveled against any clean tech sector. Autos from Europe have a 2.5% tariff and Chinese EVs were tariffed at 25% prior to this latest action. So why the drastic increase to 100%? There could be some logic here, with recent reporting that tariffs of 50% or higher are needed to deter surging Chinese EV exports to Europe. Piling on to the tariff actions, the Biden Administration proposed a prohibition on the sale or import of connected vehicles that incorporate certain technology from China and Russia. It also can’t hurt to do Detroit a solid in an election year.

But a word of caution: The 100% tariff is eye-popping and in a sector of strategic economic importance, raising the risk of Chinese retaliation. Given China’s dominance across several sectors, there’s no shortage of points of leverage Beijing could exercise to inflict pain on the U.S. and dampen the energy transition.

Digging into those big stationary storage numbers further, it’s worth flagging two things:

  1. The tariff code covers all non-EV lithium-ion battery imports – everything from batteries for power tools, to power walls, to utility scale grid storage installations. When I worked in government, I was always annoyed that our trade codes haven’t kept up with the pace of the energy transition. As a result, the fidelity of the data policymakers need isn’t always available. This is a good example of that. But there are still some solid takeaways here, and it’s likely the surge in imports comes from the big, high-value batteries fueling the rapid expansion of grid storage. 

  2. It’s not just that imports from China have jumped – it’s that China dominates the sector and U.S. imports aren’t diversified across other trade partners. The total value of non-EV lithium-ion battery imports in 2023 was $14.95 billion – of which China dominated with nearly three quarters of market share.

USTR determined that raising tariffs would not only encourage diversity of supply, but also protect domestic investments in the manufacturing sector, which surged as a result of the IRA’s incentives and should be ramping up production as the tariffs take effect in 2026.

Graphite: This was a mixed bag. USTR raised duties on some natural graphite tariff lines to 25% starting in 2026, and allowed exemptions for tariffs for synthetic and pitch-coated natural graphite in powder form (the kinds that most commonly go directly into the battery anode) to lapse, allowing those tariffs to take effect in September. Graphite producers had requested far higher tariffs effective immediately, arguing that China was dumping graphite into the U.S. market, while OEMs requested lower tariffs and delays in enforcement beyond 2026. The ultimate outcome favors the OEMs given the current particularly low prices of imports from China. The domestic graphite sector is particularly aggrieved by the tariff decision following the government’s May determination that automakers can source graphite from China and still qualify for the IRA’s 30D tax credit. 

Solar: The most notable changes came in the solar sector, where USTR proposed increasing tariffs on solar wafers and polysilicon to 50%, matching the new tariff on solar cells. USTR also announced that manufacturing equipment used to make solar modules would not be eligible for exemptions from tariffs, while equipment that is used for other upstream applications would be.

Source: DC CleanTech, data from the U.S. Census Bureau

As you can see in the chart, polysilicon imports are relatively low, given the lack of a domestic capacity to produce ingots, the next stage downstream in the manufacturing process. But ingot production capacity is coming, most notably from the Dalton, Georgia QCells facility, which was backed by a DOE loan last month (see DC CleanTech Issue 2). USTR’s moves underscore the importance the Administration is placing on establishing an upstream solar sector.

While solar panel module manufacturing has taken off domestically, China still dominates the production steps that go into those modules. These new tariffs round out the Administration’s gameplan to take a bite out of China’s near monopoly of the upstream solar sector, spur domestic manufacturing jobs, and strengthen U.S. energy and economic security against potential disruptions in Chinese supply.

The key pillars of the strategy are: 

  1. Shield polysilicon, wafer and cell production from Chinese imports. 

  2. Allow tariff exemptions on cheap, scalable Chinese manufacturing equipment.

  3. Provide generous IRA manufacturing production tax credits and DOE-backed loans to domestic solar producers. 

  4. Weave in domestic content “bonus” credits, incentivizing solar developers to buy American, fueling demand for domestic manufacturing. Note: Solar manufacturers are on pins and needles pending the Administration’s final domestic content guidance, but they will have been pleased with Treasury’s announcement yesterday that it would “recognize the benefits of domestic supply chains by differentiating the treatment of solar cells that are manufactured with domestically produced versus imported wafers”.

There is a public comment process on USTR’s 301 tariff modifications - see the “Engage in the Debate” section for more information. 

Other Trade Measures: UFLPA and Keeping China out of USMCA

301 tariffs aren’t the only tool available to limit China’s clean energy trade and the Administration is under increasing pressure to take measures to pull those other levers. On September 17 a bipartisan group of Senators published a letter to President Biden urging the Administration to stop China from exploiting the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) Free Trade Agreement to ship duty free into the U.S. from Mexico. The letter specifically called out Chinese EV manufacturers BYD, SAIC, MG, and Cherry, who are in the process of setting up shop in Mexico. Cars produced by those companies in Mexico wouldn’t be subject to the 301 tariffs, and - depending on their ability to meet sourcing and FEOC requirements - could even be eligible for the IRA’s 30D clean vehicle tax credit. It’s worth noting that the BYD Seagull EV is expected to sell for less than $20,000 in Europe when it launches there next year, well below the price of the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt after the full $7,500 tax credit. 

Source: DC CleanTech, data from the U.S. Census Bureau

You can see why Mexico would be an attractive base for Chinese EV makers. Mexico is a mature auto manufacturing market, tightly integrated with U.S. supply chains. In the first 7 months of 2024 alone it shipped more than $3.8 billion of EV passenger vehicles to the U.S., compared to only $367 million for China… in all of 2023!

Chinese companies aren’t only looking at Mexico for access to the U.S. market. In August, Chinese battery material manufacturer BTR announced plans for a graphite anode facility in Morocco, betting that it can use the U.S.-Morocco FTA for its production to be eligible for the IRA’s 30D tax incentives. 

Another group of bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter to USTR Ambassador Tai and her Mexican and Canadian counterparts on September 18, calling for Mexico and Canada to implement their own version of the UFLPA and to coordinate to ensure that goods denied entry into the United States are not reexported to Canada or Mexico. They specifically cited an example of a shipment of solar panels that had been denied entry into the U.S. based on the UFLPA, that were then imported into Canada, followed by an attempt to re-export them into the U.S. This follows other calls from Congress for the Administration to step up its enforcement of the law, including by adding specific Chinese clean energy companies to its entity list and including clean energy supply chains as sectors for high priority enforcement. Clean energy supply chains could be further challenged following a Department of Labor report linking nickel produced in Indonesia by Chinese companies to forced labor.

DOD adds Lending Arm to Secure Supply Chains

Not one to sit out a fight, the Defense Department announced this week the availability of up to $984 million in loan authority to finance the supply chain for critical technologies, including battery storage, hydrogen, solar, biomass, and biochemicals. The new program under the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) underscores the importance the Administration and Congress has placed in establishing trusted supply chains for critical clean energy technologies for military use - all the more pressing when many of these sectors are controlled by China. OSC has requested applications for loans from $10-150 million. This is noteworthy, because it addresses a government financing need that had been absent: relatively smaller-dollar loans. LPO remains the preeminent source of government backed lending for clean energy projects. But given its application timeline and fees, it is not worthwhile for LPO applicants to request loans below $100 million. The OSC loan authority is a welcome addition to the government capital stack for those smaller, but still vitally critical supply chain projects that require debt financing, but just don’t need $100 million or more.

Government Financing: September’s Awards

The government served up nearly $16 billion🤑 in clean energy awards in September. Here’s the comprehensive rundown of the sectors and recipients that were funded.

September’s Spotlight Deal

Source: DC CleanTech

🔋DOE’s Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) Office announced more than $3 billion of funding for 25 projects across 14 states in the battery materials, manufacturing, and recycling supply chain. This builds on its initial $1.82 billion of Round I funding for 14 projects. We’ve listed every Round II awardee below, but it’s also interesting to compare the sectors DOE prioritized in Round II compared to Round I.

DOE focused heavily on the recycling sector in Round II, where it awarded more than $735 million. This is a nearly 10x increase from the $75 million awarded in Round I. 

Source: DC CleanTech

Keeping with the “China Month” theme, it’s logical from an energy security perspective to invest heavily in recycling: more recycled minerals means fewer imports, particularly from China given its dominance of global markets. Recycling also reduces the amount of virgin materials needed. That’s important, given the domestic mining sector’s track record of delays in bringing new mines online.

That’s not to say that recycling can eliminate the need for new mines altogether - it can’t. But it can reduce the overall demand for virgin minerals, and every increment of demand reduced is helpful. Finally, expanding the domestic recycling base has a positive knock on effect for EV deployment since critical minerals recycled in North America can help vehicles qualify for the 30D Clean Vehicle tax credit. Making recycled materials more affordable and widely available could make it easier to claim that credit, which could help spur greater EV uptake. 

Finally, it’s worth remembering that MESC still has ~$1 billion remaining under the battery grants program. It can use that money to target priority sectors in a third funding round, or given the recent MESC Request for Information that included questions on stockpiling, perhaps it will opt for demand support instruments for its existing portfolio of projects. 

MESC Round II Battery Grant Awardees: 

  • $225 million for SWA Lithium, jointly owned by Standard Lithium and Equinor, to create a commercial scale Direct Lithium Extraction project to produce battery-quality lithium carbonate.

  • $225 million for TerraVolta Resources to produce battery-grade lithium from brine using Direct Lithium Extraction.

  • $200 million for Cirba Solutions to build and operate a facility for processing large-scale battery-grade salts for cathode-grade manufacturing.

  • $200 million to Group14 Technologies to produce silane and feed it directly to multiple silicon anode manufacturers via pipeline or container.

  • $198.6 million for EnerSys Advanced Systems to construct a lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility with an initial production capacity of 5 gigawatt-hours.

  • $166 million for Element 25 to build and operate a first-of-its-kind refining facility to produce high purity manganese sulphate monohydrate for lithium-ion batteries.

  • $166 million for South32 Hermosa’s project to mine high purity manganese sulfate monohydrate.

  • $150 million to American Battery Technology Company for a commercial scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility.

  • $150 million to Clarios Circular Solutions to recycle lithium-ion battery production scrap into Cathode Active Materials through a closed-loop supply chain.

  • $150 million for Form Energy to install a commercial scale 20 gigawatt-hour/year iron-air battery manufacturing line.

  • $150 million to SKI US for a new site to produce synthetic graphite through commercial scale Continuous Heat Treatment process.

  • $145 million to Revex Technologies to turn waste streams (mine tailings and spent batteries) into valuable critical minerals such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium.

  • $126.5 million for Honeywell International to build a commercial-scale facility that will produce Lithium (bis)FluoroSulfonyl Imide.

  • $125 million to Ascend Elements for construction of a first-of-its-kind recycled graphite production facility that converts graphite residue into battery-grade graphite with purity greater than 99.95%.

  • $124.6 million to Urbix to produce lithium-ion battery anode-grade coated spherical purified graphite at a commercial scale.

  • $100 million to Dow Chemical to establish domestic manufacturing that utilizes waste CO2 to produce high-value battery-grade carbonate solvents.

  • $100 million to Forge Battery to build a facility that will produce high-energy lithium-ion 21700 cylindrical cells based on Forge Nano’s atomic layer deposition nanocoating technology, which increases cell material performance and durability.

  • $100 million for Mitra Chem to manufacture lithium iron phosphate cathode active materials.

  • $67 million to Albemarle U.S. to retrofit a manufacturing facility to produce commercial quantities of anode material for next-generation lithium-ion batteries.

  • $60 million for Nanograf to develop an advanced silicon anode manufacturing facility.

  • $55.2 million to Blue Whale Materials to build and operate advanced lithium-ion battery recycling facilities.

  • $55.2 million to Li Industries to retool a manufacturing facility to produce and recycle lithium iron phosphate cathode active material.

  • $50 million to Braskem America to retrofit and expand an existing production facility to enhance the capability to produce ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene to meet the requirements of the lithium-ion separator market.

  • $50 million to Cabot Corporation to build and operate a plant capable of producing carbon nanotubes and conducive additive dispersions at a commercial scale.

  • $50 million for Solid Power Operating to expand electrolyte production and decrease electrolyte cost in an efficient, continuous manufacturing process.

⚡U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): $7.3 billion in New ERA awards to 16 recipients across 23 states to build more than 10 gigawatts of clean energy for rural communities across the country: 

  • $675 million awarded to Hoosier Energy to assist in procuring 369 megawatts of nuclear energy from the restart of the Michigan Palisades Nuclear Plant and approximately 250 megawatts (MW) of solar energy to serve their members in Illinois and Indiana.

  • $650 million awarded to Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative to purchase 435 MW of electricity from the Michigan Palisades Nuclear Power Plant. The project is also expected to support low-income community solar, skilled trades training, agricultural investments and energy efficiency programs.

  • $573 million awarded to Dairyland Power Cooperative to procure 1,080 MW of renewable energy through solar and wind investments. 

  • Allegheny Electric Cooperative selected to add carbon-free resources to its portfolio. 

  • Arizona Electric Power Cooperative selected for investments in 730 mw of solar, 2,910 MW/h of battery energy storage, and 70 MW of wind. 

  • Basin Electric Power Cooperative selected for procuring additional renewable energy generation and enhancing existing renewable assets. 

  • Buckeye Power selected to deploy up to 36 MW of renewable energy and 80 MW of energy storage. 

  • CORE Electric Cooperative selected to procure renewable energy from wind, solar, and battery. 

  • East Kentucky Power Cooperative selected to procure 757 MW of renewable energy for rural portions of Kentucky and improve the regional transmission grid to support renewable projects and increase energy efficiency.

  • Golden Valley Electric Association selected to add up to 150 MW of wind energy onto their system in Alaska, including construction of a battery energy storage system.

  • Great River Energy selected to procure 1,275 MW of renewable energy across rural portions of Minnesota and North Dakota.

  • Minnkota Power Cooperative selected to pursue a carbon capture and storage project (Project Tundra) and procure 370 MW of wind energy in North Dakota

  • San Miguel Electric Cooperative selected to procure 600 MW of clean energy from solar panels and a battery energy storage system. 

  • Seminole Electric Cooperative selected to construct and procure 700 MW of energy through solar energy and battery energy storage projects across rural Florida. 

  • Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association selected to support retirement of 1,100 MW of coal-fired generation and procure 1,480 MW of renewable energy through solar, wind, and battery storage. 

  • United Power selected to offset the cost of its transition to a clean energy portfolio that will provide more than 760 MW of renewable resources.

🏭DOE Loan Programs Office (LPO): $1.559 billion conditional commitment to Wabash Valley Resources to finance a waste-to-ammonia production facility using carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology in Indiana. The project could be the world’s first carbon-negative ammonia production facility and would help secure domestic fertilizer supply. 

🏭 DOE OCED: $500 million in federal cost share, $50 million to begin Phase 2 activities, to 1PointFive, for a Direct Air Capture Hub in Texas. The hub will have an initial removal capacity of 500,000 metric tons of CO2/year with the goal of capturing up to 1 million metric tons of Co2/year at full capacity. 

🏭 DOE OCED: $500 million in federal cost share, $9.5 million for Phase I activities to Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Corporation for installing a hydrogen-ready flex-fuel Direct Reduced Iron plant and two electric melting furnaces at the Cleveland-Cliffs’ Middletown Works facility in Ohio. 

💦DOE EERE: $430 million for 149 Dam Safety Projects, 84 Grid Resiliency Projects, and 60 Environmental Improvement Projects across 33 states under the “Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentive” program. 

♻️DOE OCED: $375 million in total federal cost share, $37 million in Phase I activities, to Eastman Chemical Company to construct a plastic molecular recycling facility in Texas.

🏭DOE OCED: $350 million in total federal cost share, $4.2 million for Phase I activities to the Dakota Carbon Center East Project, sponsored by the Minnkota Power Cooperative, to install and operate a commercial-scale CCS facility at a coal fired power plant in North Dakota. 

⚡Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): $300 million awarded in Climate Pollution Reduction Grants to 33 Tribal recipients across 18 states and the Municipality of Saipan to implement measures to reduce greenhouse gasses through improved energy efficiency, installation of 34 megawatts of solar and wind generation capacity, 27 megawatt-hours of battery storage capacity, and the deployment of EVs and EV chargers. 

⛴️Department of Transportation (DOT): $300 million for 18 grants in 14 states to modernize America’s ferry systems. Selected projects include:

  • $11.5 million to the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority to build two new electric ferry vessels. 

  • $20 million to the Delaware River Bay Authority to buy a new diesel-hybrid ferry. 

  • $8 million to the Rock Island County MetroLINK to buy a new battery electric ferry. 

  • $16.5 to the Maine Department of Transportation to provide infrastructure for future operation of a new hybrid electric vessel.

⚡USDA: $248 million in PACE awards to eight projects across 9 states to expand renewable energy and storage in rural areas. 

  • $81.5 million for Bluestem Energy Solutions, doing business as ETEC Solar and Battery, to finance renewable energy solar facilities and battery energy storage system facilities

  • $75.9 million for Stag Moose Solar to produce nearly 63 MW of solar energy.

  • $35 million for KPP Energy to build nine facilities that will produce 18.5 MW of renewable energy.

  • $15.6 million for Dairyland Power Cooperative to install 2 MW of solar generation at two sites connected by a battery energy storage system. 

  • $13.3 million for Harney Electric Cooperative to finance a 5 MW solar power facility.

  • $12.1 million for Sandhills Energy subsidiary SE Municipal Colorado to finance four solar power facilities to produce nearly 7.8 MW of clean energy.

  • $8.2 million for Bluestem Energy Solutions, doing business as Lawrenceburg Solar, to build a 6.1 MW solar power facility. 

  • $6.9 million for Sandhills Energy subsidiary SE Municipal Iowa to produce 7.5 MW of solar energy.

⚡DOE: $142 million in grants to 123 small business projects in 34 states

☀️DOE OCED: $90 million total federal cost share, $2 million to begin Phase 1 activities, to Mineral Basin Solar Power to develop 401 MW of solar PV on a former coal mining site in Pennsylvania. 

🏢DOE EERE: $90 million for 27 projects to help states, cities, Tribal Nations and their partners to update energy codes for residential and commercial buildings. 

🏭DOE OCED: $88 million in total federal cost share, $4.4 million to begin Phase 1, to RTI International in collaboration with International Paper, SLB and Amazon to build a CO2 capture system at IP’s Vicksburg Containerboard Mill pulp and paper facility in Mississippi.  

💦DOE OCED: $81 million in total federal cost share, $12 million awarded to begin Phase 1, to Lewis Ridge Pumped Storage, an affiliate of Rye Development. The project plans to convert former coal mine land in Kentucky into a 287 MW pumped storage hydroelectric facility.

🏭DOE OCED: $75.5 million in total federal cost share, $3.1 million for Phase 1 activities, to U.S. Pipe and Foundry Company to replace a coke-fired furnace with electric induction melting furnaces. 

☀️DOE LPO: $72.8 million closed loan guarantee to finance the development of a solar-plus-long-duration storage microgrid for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians in California. 

🏭DOE OCED: $72 million in total federal cost share, $4.9 million to begin Phase 1 activities, to the Kentucky Utilities Company, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation, to deploy a CO2 capture system at a natural gas combined cycle power plant in Kentucky. 

⚡U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC): $50 million equity commitment to the Copenhagen Infrastructure Growth Markets Fund II for renewable energy infrastructure projects in high-growth markets in South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, South Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe. Focus on large-scale onshore and offshore wind, solar PV, storage, and Power-to-X. 

⚡DOE OCED: $50 million for three Distributed Energy Systems Demonstrations projects: 

🏭 DOE OCED: $45 million in total federal cost share, $720,000 to begin Phase 1 activities, to Libbey Glass to replace four regenerative furnaces with two larger hybrid electric furnaces at its facility in Ohio. 

⚡DOE OCED: $39.9 million for seven projects for Energy Improvements in Remote and Rural Areas:

  • $10 million in total federal cost share, $27,600 to begin Phase 1A activities, to The Efficiency Maine Trust to install approximately 675 whole-home, ducted heat pumps in mobile and manufactured homes across Maine’s rural and remote communities. 

🏢DOE EERE: $38.8 million in funding for 25 projects across 17 states to research and develop high impact building technologies and practices aimed at decarbonizing, reducing peak demand on the electric grid, enhancing resilience, and reducing energy costs. 

🔋DOE OCED: $30 million in total federal cost share, $2.8 million to begin Phase 1 activities to Charge Bliss, to design and build a non-lithium-ion battery energy storage system at a pediatric hospital in California. The system would provide up to 3.3 MW of power for at least 10 hours. 

⭐DOE ARPA-E: $30 million for 13 projects to enable commercial fusion energy. 

Ⓗ DOE ARPA-E: $18 million for 9 projects to enable the growth of hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels. Selected projects include: 

  • $2.7 million: GE Vernova Advanced Research Center to implement cost-effective gas sensing technology to identify hydrogen leaks at industrial sites. 

  • $2.5 million: Serinus Labs to produce wireless hydrogen sensor nodes. 

  • $1.8 million to Aerodyne Research to develop an innovative hydrogen emissions sensor system. 

  • $1 million to 2Witech Solutions to develop the first mobile 20 parts per billion-level hydrogen sensor system. 

☀️DOE EERE: $16 million to reduce the costs and impacts of solar energy technologies:

🔋DOD: $12.9 million to Nano One Materials Corp to increase production of active materials for lithium iron phosphate cathodes. 

☀️DOE EERE: $11.6 million to six projects in six states to improve solar planning, siting, and permitting.

🔋DOE MESC: $9 million to 47 new small-and medium-sized manufacturers to implement improvements at facilities that will save energy and reduce climate pollution. This is the fourth round of the Industrial Training and Assessment Center Implementation Grant Awards which provides a combined total of $26.2 million, matched by $51 million from industry. 

⚡DOE OCED: $6.6 million awarded across 33 communities for the Energizing Rural Communities Prize

🏭 DOE OCED: $6.5 million to the Navajo Transitional Energy Company for a FEED study for the Four Corners Power Plant Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Project in New Mexico. 

🪨DOE FECM: $5.5 million for six projects to advance environmentally responsible processes to produce and refine critical minerals. 

🏭Department of Transportation: $5 million to Rutgers University Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation to develop innovative approaches to decarbonize, promote sustainability, and strengthen the resilience of transportation materials like steel and cement. 

💨DOE EERE: $3.6 million to six winners of the Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize. 

☀️DOE EERE: $1.975 million awarded to 4 companies as part of the Home Electrification Prize. ARIS Hydronics won the $1 million grand prize. 

☢️DOE NE: $1 million worth of 19 Rapid Turnaround Experiment awards to help advance accident tolerant fuels, inform reactor fuel designs, and perform research to sustain the nation’s current light-water reactor fleet.

Government Financing: September’s Opportunities

The Federal Government unveiled nearly $2.4 billion 💰 in new clean tech funding opportunities in September. Here’s the full report:

⚡DOD Office of Strategic Capital: Notice of Funding Availability for $984 million for direct loans for technologies and supply chains in designated covered categories to secure the U.S. industrial base. “Covered categories” in the clean tech space include: battery storage, biochemicals, biomass, hydrogen generation and storage, and solar. Eligible entities can apply for loans from $10-150 million. Part 1 applications may be submitted starting January 2, 2025 and must be received on February 3, 2025. 

🚌EPA: $965 million to fund Clean School Buses. Rebate applications are due January 9, 2025. Webinars from October-December 2024.

🌊DOE EERE: $111.2 million stage-gated, five-year FOA to advance U.S. wave energy technology commercial adoption. Concept papers due October 25, 2024. Full applications due January 30, 2025. 

🔋DOE OCED: $100 million for non-lithium long-duration energy storage pilot projects. Concept papers are due October 16, 2024 and full applications are due February 13, 2025. 

🚛DOE EERE: $72 million for projects that will enable the design, development and demonstration of innovative EV charging infrastructure near ports, distribution hubs, and major corridors of electrified heavy-duty vehicles. Concept papers are due on October 8, 2024. 

🗺️DOE State and Community Energy Program (SCEP): $31 million for transformative clean energy projects led by tribal and local governments. 

⚡DOE Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response: $23 million for 10 projects to make energy systems more secure, resilient and reliable. Recipients include Operant Networks and Southern California Edison. 

🪨DOE FECM: $19.5 million towards the recovery and production of critical minerals from secondary and unconventional sources. Application deadline is November 26, 2024. 

🗺️DOE SCEP: $17 million to 22 local governments and the state of New York to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions. 

Ⓗ DOE FECM: $15 million for R&D projects that convert coal, biomass, petcoke, household waste, industrial wastes, and waste plastics into syngas, to enable the low-cost production of clean hydrogen. Full applications due November 22, 2024. 

🛢️DOE FECM: $15 million for R&D projects that reduce methane emissions and other environmental impacts from undocumented orphaned oil and natural gas wells. Full applications are due November 13, 2024. 

🌽DOE EERE: $12 million to support the advancement of integrated biorefinery technologies. Concept papers are due November 7, 2024. Full applications are due January 16, 2025. 

☀️DOE EERE: $10 million for Round 3 of the Community Power Accelerator Prize. Round 3 seeks organizations to develop and finance two or more projects that, in aggregate, total at least 1MW AC of distributed solar generation. Informational webinars will be held on October 1 and November 13, 2024. Applications due on December 17, 2024. 

☀️DOE EERE: $8 million prize to pilot projects to support cattle agrivoltaics. Informational webinar on December 4, Phase 1 applications are due March 6, 2025. 

Ⓗ DOE FECM: $4 million to advance solid oxide fuel cell technology for clean hydrogen production. Applications are due December 2. 

💨DOE EERE: $3.6 million to six winners of the Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize 

👷DOE EERE: $3 million for workforce development programs that promote STEM pathways to clean energy careers. Informational webinar on October 16; Phase I applications due on December 13.

👷DOE EERE: $3 million to support and expand America’s Industrial Decarbonization workforce. Applications are due November 1, 2024. Informational Webinar on October 9. 

☀️DOE EERE: $2.7 million prize for Promoting Registration of Inverters and Modules with Ecolabel (PRIME). Applications are due April 15, 2025. 

💨DOE EERE: $2.1 million to improve floating offshore wind energy mooring and anchoring technologies. Informational Webinar on October 17, 2024. Full applications due January 14, 2025. 

⚡DOD US Army: Up to $2 million in a direct to Phase II SBIR award for lightweight, cost-effective inverters that can handle power transfer in both directions—from AC to DC and DC to AC—at varying capacities (60 kW, 30 kW, and 10 kW). Applications are due October 29.

🔋 DOD US Army: Up to $2 million for direct to Phase II SIBR award for battery and battery supply chain open topic. Applications due October 15, 2024. 

💨DOE GDO: $1.25 million to advance offshore wind deployment along the Atlantic Coast by identifying opportunities and strategies to standardize transmission development. Applications are due on November 1, 2024.

🌽DOD DARPA: The Biotechnology Office is hosting an Industry Day for the potential performer community in support of a planned Research Other Transaction solicitation. Deadline is October 11.

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David Kovatch
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