WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a loan guarantee solicitation, making as much as $4 billion in loan guarantees available for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gases.

The Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects Loan Guarantee Solicitation is intended to support technologies that are replicable and market-ready. With the solicitation, DOE has included a sample list of potential technologies for consideration. While any project that meets the requirements is eligible to apply, DOE has identified five key technology areas of interest: advanced grid integration and storage; drop-in biofuels; waste-to-energy; enhancement of existing facilities (focuses on incorporating renewable generation technology into existing renewable energy and efficient energy facilities to enhance performance); and efficiency improvements.

During the public comment period, DOE held six public meetings around the country and accepted written comments online. This solicitation addresses many of those comments and the full public comment record is available online.

With this announcement, DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) is now accepting applications in three areas, which also include the $8 billion Advanced Fossil Energy Projects solicitation that was released in December 2013 and the $16 billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program.

Currently, the LPO supports a diverse portfolio of more than $30 billion in loans, loan guarantees, and commitments, supporting more than 30 projects nationwide. The projects that LPO has supported include one of the world’s largest wind farms and several of the world’s largest solar generation and thermal energy storage systems.

For more information, visit http://energy.gov/lpo/loan-programs-office.

Publication date: 7/21/2014

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