NVCA Today

Administration Details $4 Billion in Grants for Smart Grid System, $786.5 Million for Biofuels R&D

Nearly $4 billion in grant funding will be distributed by DOE to upgrade the country's electricity transmission system. The Recovery Act provided a total of $4.5 billion to create a smart grid, which will include a digitized transmission system capable of two-way communication that will allow generators and consumers to use electricity in the most cost-effective manner.  DOE is proceeding with a $3.375 million Smart Grid Investment Program with grants ranging from $500,000 to $20 million for smart grid deployments and $100,000 to $5 million for grid monitoring services.

DOE will be moving forward with a draft Funding Opportunity Announcement for the distribution of an additional $615 million for smart grid demonstration projects for electricity storage, monitoring, and technological viability.  The goal of these funds is to help speed digital upgrades to the grid and to make sure the grid is able to integrate renewable supplies (e.g., incorporating surplus power from plug-in hybrid vehicles.)  Eligible grant applicants include electric utilities, appliance and equipment manufacturers, and firms that wish to install smart grid technology.  There will be a 20-day public comment period on the notice of intent and a 20-day open comment period on the draft funding announcement for demonstration projects.

In addition, DOE will provide $786.5 million from the economic stimulus to accelerate biofuels research and development and to expand production by providing more funding for commercial biorefineries.

'09 TIP Funding Cycle Targets Manufacturing, Infrastructure

The Technology Innovation Program (TIP) at NIST received $65 million in the 2009 Omnibus bill to fund high-risk, high-reward research into areas of critical national need done by US businesses, colleges and universities, and national labs.  The program has now made $25 million available to support as many as 25 new awards.  TIP is open to individual small-sized or medium-sized businesses or to joint ventures that also may include institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, and national laboratories.  TIP awards are limited to no more than $3 million total over three years for a single company project and no more than $9 million total over five years for a joint venture.

 Approximately $15 million in first-year funding is allocated for R&D projects in manufacturing that would enable better, more cost-effective use of advanced materials in innovative products.  The competition is limited to the three classes of materials considered most critical to potential growth areas for manufacturing: technologies for nanomaterials; composites and superalloys, alloys; and smart materials.  TIP is seeking proposals for new technologies for predictive modeling to enable improved material properties and better process design tools, for improved methods to up-scale advanced materials production from laboratory processes and to integrate advanced materials into products.

For civil infrastructure research, approximately $10 million is available for first-year funding to address two specific needs.  The first is a continuing need for innovative, cost-effective sensor and sensor-network technologies for non-destructive testing and monitoring of the structural health of major infrastructure components.  This competition emphasizes technologies to detect corrosion, cracking, delamination and other structural damage in water resources systems such as water and wastewater pipelines, dams, levees and waterway locks, as well as bridges and roadways.  The second focus is the need for new technologies for repair and retrofit and deals with how to do a better job repairing and upgrading existing structures.  The emphasis is on practical technologies-including both novel materials and cost-effective methods for installing them-that would provide enhanced performance or longer service life than existing repair and retrofit materials and practices. A 1:1 match share is required.  Proposals are due June 23. More information regarding 2009-TIP-01 is available at: http://www.nist.gov/tip/comp_09/2009_ffo_final1.pdf.