Wilson Sonsini is pleased to share our March 2024 update to the Clean Energy and Climate Solutions Federal Funding Database. This month, the database features funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), notices of intent (NOIs), requests for information (RFIs), and information for a variety of opportunities, including:

• Other—Clean Ports Program: Zero-Emission Technology Deployment Competition—The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA’s) Office of Transportation and Air Quality is issuing this Notice of Funding Opportunity to announce the availability of funds and solicit applications from eligible entities to help ports nationwide transition to zero-emission (ZE) operations under the EPA’s Clean Ports Program. The program will fund ZE port equipment and infrastructure to reduce mobile source emissions (criteria pollutants, air toxics, and/or greenhouse gases) at U.S. ports, delivering cleaner air for communities across the country.

Older port equipment especially can emit significant amounts of air pollution, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen oxides (NOx), air toxics, and carbon dioxide (CO2), which impact human health and the environment. This ZE Technology Deployment Competition is designed to fund deployment of strategies and solutions that will help ports achieve ZE operations. This includes funding the purchase of ZE equipment, technologies, and related infrastructure directly serving a port, as well as funding support expenses related to deployment.

For the purpose of this funding opportunity, “ZE equipment” means a mobile source that produces zero tailpipe emissions of any criteria pollutant, air toxics, or greenhouse gas other than water vapor, specifically electric and hydrogen fuel cell technologies. Specifically, funding is available for, but not limited to ZE Mobile Equipment, ZE Infrastructure Serving Mobile Equipment (including charging, battery, or hydrogen storage systems), and ZE Technology Deployment Support Activities (including staffing, monitoring, marketing, and other administrative activities). Funding is available for water-only and water-or-dry ports and a portion of the total funding is reserved especially for Tribal applicants only. Other applicants can be port authorities, local agencies (including Tribal ones) that have jurisdiction over a port, and private entities that meet certain definitions including those that own/operate/use port facilities, equipment, or other technologies.

$2.79 billion in total funding is available for up to 90 awards of between $2 million and $500 million. Optional Letters of Intent to Apply are due on March 28, 2024, and full applications are due on May 28, 2024.

• FOA—BIL: Advanced Energy Manufacturing & Recycling Grant Program—The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains issued an FOA that will award financial assistance to small- and medium-sized manufacturers trough two Areas of Interest (AOI):
  • AOI 1 focuses on clean energy manufacturing and recycling to increase domestic manufacturing or recycling capacity for materials needed for the clean energy. Specifically, AOI 1 seeks projects to build new, re-equip, or expand existing clean energy manufacturing or recycling facilities for the production or recycling of advanced energy property.
  • AOI 2, through two sub-topics, focuses on industrial decarbonization through the building or retrofitting of new and existing facilities. Specifically, one sub-topic seeks to re-equip or expand existing manufacturing facilities to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the facility, while the other sub-topic seeks to establish new or re-equip existing manufacturing or recycling facilities that will make products with substantially lower carbon intensity and are not derived from a primary feedstock of palm fatty acid distillates or any fossil fuels including coal/natural gas/petroleum.

Appendix I of the FOA includes broad definitions of advanced energy property and other terms that may be applicable to awards. Approximately $425 million is available for between five and 25 grants of up to $100 million each. Mandatory Concept Papers are due on April 8, 2024, and full applications are due on June 24, 2024.

• FOA—Clean Energy Technology Deployment on Tribal Lands—The DOE’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs issued an FOA to provide funding for tribal organizations to accelerate the deployment of clean energy technology on Tribal Lands while also helping to build the knowledge, skills, and resources to needed to implement those solutions. Eligibility for awards under this FOA is limited to an Indian Tribe, Intertribal Organizations, or a Tribal Energy Development Organization. Applicants must also control the site(s) on which any project awards will be built.

The FOA focuses on four Topic Areas (TA):

• TA 1—install clean energy generating system(s) and/or energy efficiency measure(s) for Tribal Building(s)
• TA 2—deploy community-scale clean energy generating system(s) or community energy storage on Tribal Lands
• TA 3—install integrated energy system(s) for autonomous operation (independent of the traditional centralized electric power grid) to power a single or multiple Essential Tribal Building(s) during emergency situations or for tribal community resilience
• TA 4—power otherwise unelectrified Tribal Buildings.

Projects selected under this FOA are intended to reduce or stabilize energy costs, increase energy security and resiliency, and provide electric power to unelectrified tribal buildings. The potential energy savings or energy generation, level of commitment, and capabilities of the Applicant and project participants to accomplish the project objectives will be major factors in selecting projects for funding. Applications must also demonstrate the potential for economic and environmental benefits to the Applicant and tribal community. The Indian Tribe, Intertribal Organization, or Tribal Energy Development Organization must also demonstrate the organizational and technical readiness and commitment to deploy clean energy generating systems, energy efficiency measures, energy storage systems, integrated energy systems, or energy infrastructure.

Approximately $25 million of funding is available with awards ranging from $100,000 to $5 million depending on the TA. Full applications are due on May 30, 2024.

• FOA—Carbon Management (Round 5)—The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) on behalf of the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) reopened and amended an existing FOA to provide additional funding focusing on several expanded AOIs related to the Carbon Management program priorities.
  • AOI 1 supports Carbon Conversion Technology investigating the conversion of CO2 from point sources like generators and Direct Air Capture into environmentally responsible and economically feasible products. AOI 1 has three new sub-topics: Non-photosynthetic biological conversion of CO2, Conversion of CO2 to plastics, and Conversion of CO2 to solid carbon products.
  • In addition, new AOI 3 sub-topic E (AOI 3-E) will support Carbon Capture research and development for Electric Generation and Industrial Point Sources. AOI 3-E is seeking lower-cost, highly efficient technologies for carbon capture from these sources for secure geologic carbon storage or conversion into long-lasting products such as synthetic aggregates, building materials, and concrete.

A total of $30 million is available for up to 12 awards of between $1.5 million and $3 million each. Full applications are due on April 29, 2024.

Read the latest complete list of federal funding opportunities here. If you would like to receive alerts when the database is updated, subscribe here. As a reminder, refer to the white paper for a general guide to understanding how this federal funding works at a high level.

Additionally, we remind you to read our recent alert, "Treasury and IRS Release Proposed and Final Regulations on Direct Pay Elections," where we provide key takeaways, an overview of Direct Pay, and a discussion of the differences between the previously proposed regulations under Section 6417 (discussed here) and the Final Regulations.

Finally, we invite you to review our IRA of 2022 Resource, Wilson Sonsini’s single-source digital platform of relevant information related to IRA implementation. The resource page's "Implementation Tracker" provides the latest overall implementation status for each credit and bonus credit regarding their implementation as of March 1, 2024.