Deploying a low-risk technology
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Deploying a low-risk technology
You’ve determined a low-risk technology that you want to pursue. Now, you need to understand the benefits and costs associated with this technology and how to deploy it. Characteristics of low-risk technologies include:
- Security: Well-understood with extensive testing and lower security risks but still need updates.
- Regulatory Compliance: Must meet industry-specific regulations and standards.
- Environmental Impact: Less resource-intensive and lower environmental impact, with established mitigation practices.
- Scalability: Easily scalable with well-documented processes.
- Maintenance: Maintenance requirements well defined, necessary expertise known, supply chain for parts well established.Â
- Performance: Reliable and consistent, suitable for operational environments, though may lack cutting-edge improvements.
- System Integration: Well-established, widely adopted, with lower complexity and well-documented implementation processes.
Funding resources to support deploying a low-risk technology
| Opportunity | Program Objectives | Eligibility (who is eligible to apply) | Technologies of interest | Funding type (grant to community, technical assistance, loan, …) | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) - Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) | Assist stakeholders in enhancing interconnection practices and processes for the bulk power system. This assistance is specialized, focusing on the interconnection of solar, wind, storage, electric vehicle charging facilities, or their combined integration. | Utilities - Renewable energy developers - Grid operators - Regulatory agencies - State and local governments - Research institutions - Other organizations involved in the interconnection of renewable energy and DERs | Renewable Energy Systems: Solar photovoltaic (PV), wind turbines, and other renewable energy generation technologies - Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) - Energy Storage Technologies - Smart Inverters - Microgrids - Advanced Grid Management Technologies - Cybersecurity Technologies | Technical assistance | Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange | Department of Energy | |
| USDA Rural Development (U.S. Department of Agriculture) – Electric Programs | Provide leadership and capital to maintain, expand, upgrade, and modernize America's vast rural electric infrastructure | Electric utilities (wholesale and retail providers) serving rural customers, nonprofit organizations, cooperatives, associations, and public bodies | Technologies to enhance electric infrastructure in rural areas: Renewable energy systems - Energy storage solutions - Smart grid technologies - Transmission and distribution infrastructure - Microgrids - Energy efficiency improvements - Electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure | Direct loans, loan guarantees, grants, loan forgiveness | Electric Programs | Rural Development | - Denali Commission High Energy Cost Grants - Distributed Generation Energy Project Financing - Electric Infrastructure Loan & Loan Guarantee Program - Empowering Rural America New ERA Program - Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program - Energy Resource Conservation - High Energy Cost Grants - Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) Program |
| Office of Indian Energy | Catalyze Tribal energy development, efficiency and use, reduce or stabilize energy costs, enhance and strengthen Tribal energy infrastructure, and deliver affordable reliable energy to Tribal lands and homes | Indian Tribe, which includes Alaska Native Regional Corporations or Village Corporations, an Intertribal Organization, or a Tribal Energy Development Organization | Renewable energy systems (solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal, etc.), Energy storage solutions (battery storage, pumped hydro storage, etc.), Energy efficiency technologies and improvements, Microgrids and distributed energy resources (DERs), Advanced grid technologies and smart grid systems, Clean energy infrastructure projects, Transportation electrification (EV charging infrastructure) | Financial Assistance, Technical Assistance, Education ad Capacity Buildings | Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs | Department of Energy | The Office of Indian Energy provides financial assistance on a competitive basis to develop and deploy energy infrastructure and technology. E.g., conduct clean energy planning, comprehensively assess feasibility and viability of deploying clean energy technology, and conduct clean energy design and development activities. - The Office of Indian Energy provides technical assistance to advance Tribal energy projects |
| Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) - Renewable Advancing Community Resilience (RACER) | Supporting projects that enable communities to use solar and solar-plus-storage to prevent disruptions in power caused by extreme weather and other events, and to rapidly restore electricity if it goes down | Utilities, municipal planners, emergency responders, community groups, and others, especially in underserved communities | Solar, solar-plus-storage | Grant | Renewables Advancing Community Energy Resilience (RACER) Funding Program | Department of Energy | |
| USDA Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP) | This funding opportunity offers loans to entities, such as rural utilities and other companies, that provide energy efficiency loans to eligible consumers for the implementation of long-lasting and cost-effective efficiency measures. | Current and former Rural Utilities Services (RUS) borrowers, subsidiaries of current or former RUS borrowers, and entities that provide retail electric service needs in rural areas | Energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy storage or energy conservation measures and related services | Loan | Rural Energy Savings Program | Rural Development (usda.gov) | RUS makes loans to Corporations, states, territories, and subdivisions and agencies thereof; municipalities; people's utility districts; and cooperative, nonprofit, limited-dividend, or mutual associations |
| Office of Electricity - Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership (C-MAP) | Program supports design or deploy a microgrid that aligns with community-defined priorities to improve or to optimize existing microgrid technology. | Communities, or groups of communities, that are either developing or have developed microgrid energy systems | Microgrid systems | Technical assistance | Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership | Department of Energy | |
| Office of Clean Energy Demonstration (OCED) - Distributed Energy System (DES) Demonstrations Program | Help the US develop more reliable, resilient, and cost-effective energy systems to better support the rapidly changing electric grid and the growth of electric vehicles (EV), energy storage, and the electrification of buildings and industry. Needs technical expertise to design and operate distributed energy systems that integrate high levels (MW) of variable clean energy resources. | Utility (municipal, cooperative, and investor-owned utilities) and/or private sector-led organizations | Energy systems, EV- Energy storage | Direct funding with 50% minimum non-federal cost share | Distributed Energy Systems Demonstrations Program | Department of Energy | |
| Loan Programs Office (LPO) - Title 17 Clean Energy Financing | Deployment of clean energy and decarbonization technologies in the United States - creating good jobs, strengthening supply chains, and enabling an equitable energy transition. | Energy-related project developers/industry, grid industry, etc. | Renewable energy systems, Production facilities for the manufacture of fuel-efficient vehicles or parts of those vehicles, Advanced fossil energy technology, Hydrogen fuel cell technology, Pollution control equipment, Advanced nuclear energy, Oil refineries, Carbon capture and sequestration technologies, Energy storage technologies, Efficient electrical generation, transmission, and distribution, Industrial decarbonization technologies , Efficient end-use energy technologies, Supply of critical minerals | Loan or loan guarantee | TITLE 17 CLEAN ENERGY FINANCING | Department of Energy | |
| DOE Grid Deployment Office - Transmission Facility Financing Program (TFF) | Direct loan program designed to finance the construction or modification of electric transmission facilities located in geographic areas designated as a National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) by the Secretary of Energy. | Non-federal borrowers | Construction or modification of electric transmission facilities | Direct loan | Transmission Facility Financing Program | Department of Energy | For facility financing |
| DOE Grid Deployment Office - Transmission Facilitation Program (TFP) | Federal support to overcome financial hurdles in the development of large-scale new transmission lines, upgrading of existing transmission, and connection of microgrids in select States and U.S Territories. | Transmission developers and microgrid developers | Transmission projects | Capacity contracts - Loans - Public-private partnership | Transmission Facilitation Program | Department of Energy |
Engaging community in modernization planning
Community engagement is a crucial aspect of the planning process for grid infrastructure modernization. Utilities must involve the communities they serve in the decision-making process to build trust, foster transparency and ensure that the modernization efforts align with the needs and values of the community. Click below to explore community engagement resources.Â
Community Engagement
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