A federal partnership program will offer financial and technical assistance to remote and tribal communities that are at any stage of microgrid planning or development.
The U.S. Department of Energy is accepting applications from remote and tribal communities to receive technical and financial assistance for microgrid development.
Microgrids powered by renewables, DOE said, reduce a community’s dependency on imported fuels and reduce customer bills, “contributing to community self-sufficiency and resilience.”
The program, known as the Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership, will focus on underserved communities in Alaska and Hawaii as well as tribal communities, primarily in the Great Plains and Southwest.
State or local governments, tribal organizations and nonprofits may apply for support. Total funding of $7.2 million is expected to support about 15 communities or clusters of communities.
Communities that are just beginning to develop a microgrid project proposal suited to their needs are invited to apply, as are communities at other stages of microgrid development, from developing a detailed conceptual design for a microgrid to improving an existing microgrid.
Beneficiaries will extend beyond communities beyond that apply for support, through development of resources for scaling microgrid solutions proven to work in remote and under-resourced areas, said Ian Baring-Gould, technology deployment manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The program is managed by DOE’s Office of Electricity and supported by NREL. Communities whose applications are successful may receive power sector technical support from NREL and from local colleges and universities.
Tried and true
The Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt University recently designed a nested system of three solar-plus-storage microgrids to be built, owned and operated by three tribes in Humboldt County, California.
Iowa State researchers supported Iowa’s first solar-plus-storage microgrid.
Other solar-plus-storage microgrids serving the types of communities targeted by the new partnership include one in in Corning, California and one near San Diego. Arctic tribal communities in Alaska have also been developing solar-plus-storage projects.
Partners
Seven agencies will support communities applying for support:
- Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy
- Alaska Center for Energy and Power
- Renewable Energy Alaska Project
- Arctic Energy Office Energy Ambassadors
- Office of Indian Energy
- Hawaiʻi Natural Energy Institute
- Hawaiʻi State Energy Office.
After the initial round of funding and technical support, DOE “is interested” in continuing the initiative through annual rounds of funding that would expand the geographic coverage for eligible communities, Baring-Gould said. Funding is available through annual funding appropriations to DOE’s Office of Electricity.
DOE has scheduled a webinar to describe the program.
