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AEA seeking renewable energy projects Inviting applications for state grants under the Renewable Energy Grant Fund; also seeking feedback on other funding sources ALAN BAILEY Petroleum News
The Alaska Energy Authority is asking for applications for the latest round of grants under the agency’s Renewable Energy Grant Fund. Grant applications must be filed by Sept. 15.
The fund, established by the Alaska Legislature in 2008 and administered by AEA, is designed to help viable renewable energy projects succeed, thus decreasing community dependence on fossil fuels and providing local energy solutions. The fund depends on annual legislative appropriations.
For this round of applications AEA is asking project proposers to provide information about potential project financing options such as loans and bonds that can work alongside state funding, if a project has reached its final design or construction phase. AEA says it is also interested in feedback on funding options for projects, even from entities that do not plan to apply for grants.
Maximum grant sizes In the interests of preventing a single project accounting for the bulk of the available grant funding, AEA is reducing the size of the maximum grant that can be awarded to an individual project. The maximum is being reduced from $4 million to $2 million for a community with low energy costs, and from $8 million to $4 million for a community with high energy costs. In the previous round of fund grants, the total fund appropriation was $11.5 million, Sara Fisher-Goad, AEA executive director, wrote in a cover letter accompanying AEA’s request for grant applications.
A low energy cost is defined as a retail electricity rate of less than 20 cents per kilowatt hour or, for heat related projects, the availability of natural gas for heating at least 50 percent of residences.
Fischer-Goad also said that this year AEA wants to focus a greater percentage of grant funding on projects in early stages, with 50 percent of the funding targeting projects in the reconnaissance and feasibility phases. These important phases are not generally financeable but can lead to a viable project, she wrote.
“Alaska continues to be a leader in developing renewable energy sources,” Fischer-Goad said in a press release reminding applicants about the pending submittal deadline. “High costs of energy continue to impact Alaskans and renewable energy projects help reduce dependency on fossil fuels and proved local, stable sources of energy.”
Renewable Energy Grant Fund projects have included hydroelectric, wind, biomass, heat recovery, power transmission, geothermal, heat pumps, solar, and ocean and river technologies, she said.
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