DOE to Fund $425M for Decarbonization, Manufacture of Clean-Energy Products

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) granted $425 million in funding to support small- to medium-sized manufacturers in current and former coal communities producing and recycling clean-energy products. This is an effort to reduce industrial emissions and increase clean-energy manufacturing.

“All across America we’re seeing a manufacturing boom that is revitalizing communities while preserving and expanding the local workforce," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “DOE is utilizing the historic investments in President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to expand economic opportunities to ensure former coal communities can take full advantage of the clean-energy transition and continue their leading role in powering our nation.”

The new program is financed by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—AMRG—and managed by the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains. AMRG also financially supports the decarbonization of modern or retired facilities in coal communities.

A previous round of federal investments in 2023 awarded a total of $275 million to seven projects in Colorado, Virginia, West Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Michigan.

The DOE divided its investment themes into the following categories: Clean Energy Manufacturing and Recycling (funded during the 2023 investment round) and Industrial Decarbonization.

• Clean Energy Manufacturing and Recycling: This theme’s goal is to establish, re-equip, or expand current manufacturing and recycling facilities for the production or recycling of advanced energy.
• Industrial Decarbonization: A new theme in this round of funding, Industrial Decarbonization is centered around building or upgrading manufacturing facilities to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create low-carbon materials.

Across both areas of interest, projects participating in this program must occur in communities where coal mines have closed since Dec. 31, 1999, or coal-fired power plants have closed since Dec. 31, 2009. Additionally, applicants must submit a demonstration plan showing the project’s quantifiable impact and benefits for workers and the local community. These plans will be examined in accordance with the DOE’s goals to advance the American workforce, reward communities for engaging in the energy transition, and implement President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative—40% of the overall benefits of specified federal investments are allocated to disadvantaged communities.

The decarbonization of older, often fossil-fired power plants is a primary focus of the energy transition for governments and private entities alike. At the POWERGEN 2024 conference in New Orleans, Mark Scherluebbe, managing director at EY-Parthenon Energy, led a technical session called Transforming Older Plants for A Decarbonized Energy Future. He broke down the energy transition and decarbonization into simple ideas.

“All of these drivers are possible due to the four Ds of the energy transition,” Scherluebbe said. “Most people would agree that decarbonization, decentralization, digitalization, and deglobalization form the factors that push on you. You don’t just have the supply and demand forces pushing on you, but everything comes at once.”

Bradford Crabtree, Assistant Secretary for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, also spoke at POWERGEN 2024 about decarbonization through carbon capture: “The DOE estimates that reaching President Biden’s ambitious plan for a net-zero emissions economy will require capturing and storing between 400 million and 1.8 billion metric tons of CO₂ emissions from the U.S. economy annually by 2050. We’ve been making progress toward zero emissions of electricity, thanks to the dramatic expansion of renewables.”