Administration Boosts Clean Energy with $4 Billion Loan Guarantee Program

On July 3, the Department of Energy announced the issuance of Solicitation No. DE-SOL-0007154, "Loan Guarantee Solicitation for Applications for Renewable Energy Projects and Efficient Energy Projects," under which DOE will make up to $4 billion in loan guarantees available to entities developing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and technologies in the U.S., the latest effort by the Obama Administration to stimulate investment in advanced energy technologies that reduce or avoid anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (discussed previously here and here). The new DOE offering is focused on providing loan guarantees to qualifying projects in "five key technology areas," including smart grid systems, clean power production with energy storage, biorefineries, advanced waste-to-energy conversion, and end-use efficiency improvements, among others, and joins two other DOE programs now accepting applications, the $8 billion Advanced Fossil Energy Projects solicitation and the $16 billion Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program.