[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 18 (Thursday, January 27, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-1772]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: January 27, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

 

Commercialization Projects for Renewable Energy Technologies

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Request for Project Summaries and Notice of Solicitation for 
Financial Assistance Applications Number DE-PS02-94CH10595.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through the 
Commercialization Ventures Program, announces its intention to issue a 
competitive solicitation and make multiple (at least two (2)) awards to 
accelerate commercialization of emerging renewable energy (RE) 
technologies or innovative applications of existing RE technologies. 
This action is subject to the DOE Financial Assistance Rules, which can 
be found in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR part 
600).

AVAILABILITY OF THE SOLICITATION: To obtain a copy of the solicitation 
once it is issued on or about March 1, 1994, write to the U.S. 
Department of Energy's Golden Field Office, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, 
CO, 80401, Attn: Mr. John Meeker, Contract Specialist. Only written 
requests for the solicitation will be honored. For convenience, 
requests for the solicitation may be faxed to Mr. Meeker at (303) 275-
4790.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the Renewable Energy and 
Energy Efficiency Technology Competitiveness Act of 1989 (Act), as 
amended by the Energy Policy Act of 1992, the U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, is seeking 
preliminary information from sources able to demonstrate the commercial 
potential of emerging renewable energy (RE) technologies or innovative 
applications of existing RE technologies, to participate in a 
competitive solicitation for DOE financial assistance. In creating the 
Act Congress stated, ``what is needed is a partnership between the 
Federal Government, domestic manufacturers, marketers, and potential 
users of renewable energy * * * technologies.'' Without this 
partnership, the availability of these technologies for domestic 
industry could be substantially delayed.''
    As defined in the Act, an emerging RE technology is one that has 
already been proven to work, but which has not been commercialized or 
has been limited to sub-commercial demonstration or quantities, to 
restricted or controlled operation, or to only selected applications. 
Awards under the solicitation will be Grants or Cooperative Agreements 
(depending on the scope of the project and need for substantial DOE 
involvement) administered in accordance with 10 CFR 600, DOE's 
Financial Assistance Rules.
    The following are RE areas that DOE will consider for financial 
assistance under the solicitation:
     Demonstration of the market readiness of an emerging 
technology in a new application or environment or at a sufficient scale 
or size likely to encourage private investment in commercial facilities 
or systems.
     Market introduction activities of a product or service 
having potentially high energy payoff and/or high replication value by 
other users.
     Financial support that will reduce risk for, or otherwise 
enable, private financing of a new venture.
     Financial assistance that will enable private sector 
investment in new RE manufacturing, evaluation and test, or quality 
control facilities leading to commercial product introduction.
    Projects may include those for the production or delivery of 
electricity, thermal energy, or other forms of energy using renewable 
energy technology; or, improvements in, or expansion of, facilities for 
the manufacture of renewable energy technologies.
    Projects selected are expected to include, but are not limited to, 
the following specific areas of renewable energy technology:
    (A) Conversion of cellulosic biomass to liquid fuels.
    (B) Ethanol and ethanol byproduct processes.
    (C) Direct combustion or gasification of biomass.
    (D) Biofuels energy systems.
    (E) Photovoltaics, including utility scale and remote applications.
    (F) Solar thermal, including solar water heating.
    (G) Wind energy.
    (H) High temperature and low temperature geothermal energy.
    It is anticipated that requirements of the solicitation will 
include that: (1) All teams or applicants in projects selected shall 
include at least one for-profit entity; (2) projects selected shall 
require manufacture and reproduction substantially within the United 
States for any invention or product that may result from the project; 
(3) projects selected must demonstrate a significant need for federal 
financial assistance to commercialize or speed commercialization of the 
technology.
    In general, the solicitation will require cost sharing by 
applicants of at least 50% of the total project costs in order to 
receive an award under the solicitation. All participant cost sharing 
must come from non-Federal funding sources. Currently, it is 
anticipated that total DOE funding in the amount of $10 million will be 
available for all awards under the solicitation.
    The solicitation will be issued on or about March 1, 1994, and will 
contain detailed information on funding, cost sharing requirements, 
eligibility, application preparation, and evaluation. Responses to the 
solicitation will be due 45 days after solicitation release. However, 
applications are encouraged to be submitted prior to the closing date. 
All responsible sources are encouraged to submit an application and all 
applications will be considered.

Project Summary

    While not a requirement, DOE strongly encourages all parties 
interested in applying for financial assistance under the 
Commercialization Ventures Program to respond to this notice by 
providing DOE with a short summary of the prospective project. The 
primary use of these summaries by DOE will be to ensure that the 
overall Program adequately addresses industry needs. In addition, DOE 
will review individual summaries in order to advise potential 
applicants on whether their proposed project appears to fit within the 
overall objectives of the Commercialization Venture Program. DOE will 
not evaluate individual project summaries on whether they meet any 
criteria for eventual award. All potential applicants who submit a 
project summary will be advised in writing of whether the summary would 
seem to fit within the Program or whether the summary seems to present 
a project that is unsuitable for the Program. If the latter, the 
potential applicant will be advised of the reasons the potential 
project may be unsuitable. Project summaries submitted in response to 
this notice should be received no later than 30 calendar days after the 
appearance of this notification in order to be considered by DOE in 
formulating the solicitation.
    Failure to respond or furnish the information requested will not 
disqualify anyone from competing when the competitive solicitation is 
issued. However, the distribution list for the solicitation will be 
generated as a result of responses to this notice; therefore, all 
interested parties should respond in some manner, if only by furnishing 
their name, address and telephone number.
    Project summaries are not expected to include detailed plans. 
Information contained in the responses will not be released to the 
public; however, if proprietary information is included, this should be 
marked on the applicable pages. Summaries should be limited to eight 
(8) pages and include the following information:
    1. Name, address, telephone and fax numbers of the primary contact 
person.
    2. The potential participants, proposed roles, key personnel and 
qualifications.
    3. A concise description of the project including discussion of the 
following: (a.) product concept; (b.) development status; (c.) where 
the technology has been demonstrated; (d.) how the technology works; 
(e.) technical viability, reliability, and manufacturability, including 
the identity of a potential manufacturing partner, if known and; (f.) 
the estimated cost per kWh or MMBTU the project will produce and the 
estimated cost once the technology is fully commercialized.
    4. A discussion of the potential market for the product or project.
    5. A discussion of the potential benefits of the product or 
project, such as environmental, energy savings and/or energy supply 
contributions.
    6. The total estimated cost of the project, the percentage of cost 
sharing and the potential source(s) of cost sharing.
    7. Length of time to fully construct or implement the project.

Questions

    Respondents are encouraged to submit any questions about the 
Program discussed in this announcement as part of their response. 
Questions should be submitted as an attachment to the summary, if a 
project summary is furnished, and will not be counted against the eight 
(8) page limit.
    Submit four (4) copies of your project summary or other response to 
John Meeker at the above address within 30 days of the date of this 
notice.

    Issued in Chicago, Illinois, on January 7, 1994.
Alan E. Smith,
Director, Information Management and Support Division.
[FR Doc. 94-1772 Filed 1-26-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-M