The grants will help manufacturers launch initiatives to improve energy and material efficiency
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $80 million in grants to help small and medium-sized manufacturers launch energy efficiency programs and modernize their operations. The grants are part of the from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“Small- and medium-sized manufacturers will play a major role in increasing domestic production of technologies and materials that will position the U.S. to lead the global clean energy transition,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is enabling facilities across the country to increase energy efficiency, cut costs, and contribute to a clean energy economy that works for all.”
DOE’s Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) and Combined Heat and Power Technical Assistance Partnership (CHP TAP) programs provide in-depth assessments at small and medium sized manufacturers—which comprise more than 90 percent of the nation’s manufacturing base—to identify cost-effective opportunities to improve energy efficiency, increase competitiveness and reduce emissions. This announcement makes grants available to support projects that modernize facilities with improved energy and material efficiency, enhanced cybersecurity, and increased use of smart and advanced manufacturing technologies to reduce waste and pollution, while increasing productivity.
Through the IAC and CHP TAP programs, qualifying manufacturing companies are eligible to receive a free assessment that can lead to lower operating costs and reduced carbon and non-carbon pollution emissions.
The Industrial Assessment Center Implementation Grant Program will provide up to $300,000 in funding, per entity, to help eligible manufacturers implement recommendations from assessments conducted between 2018 and 2023. Qualified manufacturers will cover half the cost for each project. In this first round of funding, DOE will provide up to $80 million, but additional rounds of funding will follow in the coming months.
Additionally, DOE is soliciting applications from non-IAC or CHP TAP assessment providers to qualify assessments from other entities as “IAC-equivalent.” Qualification of third-party assessors will expand eligibility for implementation grants in future rounds, increasing funding accessibility to the program across the country.
IAC assessments typically identify more than $130,000 in potential annual savings opportunities for every manufacturer assessed. CHP TAPs, a regional network of technical assistance providers, promote and assist in transforming the market for combined heat and power throughout the United States. CHP, also known as cogeneration, is an efficient technology that generates electricity and uses the thermal energy that is otherwise wasted as heat to provide steam or hot water, achieving overall efficiencies of up to 80 percent. It can help manufacturers lower operating costs and reduce carbon emissions while offering fuel flexibility, improved reliability, and improved energy resilience.
DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) manages the IAC Program. Learn more about the MESC mission to strengthen and secure manufacturing and energy supply chains needed to modernize the nation’s energy infrastructure and support a clean and equitable energy transition.
Learn more about the application process here. Applications are due on Thursday, July 14, 2023, at 5 p.m. ET.
