The Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) is a stakeholder partnership to enable a simpler, faster, and fairer interconnection process for clean energy resources while enhancing the reliability, resiliency, and security of our electric grid.  One of the key activities of i2X is to provide technical assistance that will directly support stakeholders in improving interconnection practices and processes for electricity distribution systems and the transmission system, also known as the bulk power system. The technical assistance must be specific to the interconnection of solar, wind, storage, or electric vehicle charging facilities, or a hybrid integration of these technologies. The i2X team has allocated up to $750,000 for this technical assistance opportunity and intends to select up to 12 projects.

Mass Fleet Advisor aims to bridge the technical expertise gap by pairing businesses and non-profits with a technical consultant who will work with you to analyze your fleet and come up with an electrification plan that is tailored to your business. Lead by CALSTART, Inc., the consultant team will provide FREE electrification planning to interested private, commercial, and non-profit fleet managers. Sixty-Five eligible fleets will receive one-on-one support and a Fleet Electrification Report including a site assessment, total cost of ownership analysis, vehicle market inventory analysis, charging analysis, and next step recommendations.

The Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) announced a $23 million funding opportunity that will establish a regional network of Technical Assistance Partnerships (TAPs) to help industrial facilities and other large energy users increase the adoption of onsite energy technologies.

1. Topic 1 – Regional Onsite TAPs: Funding for up to 10 entities to serve as regional Onsite Energy TAPs. Each TAP will represent a multi-state region and serve as the primary technical, market, and policy point of contact for end-users and other state and local stakeholders.
2. Topic 2 – Onsite Energy Technical Analysis and Support Center: Funding for one national entity to serve as the Onsite Energy Technical Analysis and Support Center (TASC). The TASC will centrally coordinate technical analysis and programmatic activities of the Onsite Energy TAPs.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) manages the DOE’s Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP). The MPP helps increase participation and maximize opportunities for small businesses to work with the Department. The DOE’s MPP seeks to foster long-term business relationships between small businesses and DOE prime contractors and to increase the overall number of small businesses that receive DOE prime contracts and subcontracts.

This program encourages DOE prime contractors to assist small disadvantaged businesses (SDB) certified by SBA under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (8(a)), other small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses (WOSB), service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB), veteran-owned small businesses (VOSB), historically underutilized business zone (HUBZone) small businesses, historically black colleges and universities (HCBUs), and other minority institutions of higher learning to enhance their capabilities and improve their abilities to perform contracts and subcontracts for the DOE and other federal agencies.

For more information about the DOE’s Mentor-Protégé Program, contact the OSDBU office at 202-586-7377 or by email at SmallBusiness@hq.doe.gov

The American-Made Network is fueling America’s innovation engine. This is where innovators contribute game-changing ideas, specialized skills, and expertise to solve our most pressing clean energy challenges. Members of public and private sectors provide mentoring, tools, resources, and support to accelerate the transition of ideas into real-world solutions for environmental justice and economic renewal.

The Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) program connects local governments, electric utilities, community-based groups, and others with experts from across the DOE national laboratory complex and their customized, cutting-edge analysis. Through unbiased technical support to communities across the country, C2C accelerates the deployment of clean energy systems that are reflective of local and regional priorities. C2C provides three levels of engagement: In-depth technical partnerships; Peer-learning cohorts; Expert match.

Expert Match is intended to help meet that need by providing up to 60 hours of technical assistance (TA) to community stakeholders who have decision-making power and/or influence in their community but need access to additional clean energy expertise to inform upcoming plans, policies, or projects.

The Accelerate California program is the newly re-branded Inclusive Innovation Hub program (iHub²), with the same goal as before! The program focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion and works to bolster the regional innovation ecosystem and strengthen innovation assets, business growth and job creation across underserved communities and support a diverse group of entrepreneurs.

The Community Power Accelerator connects developers, investors, philanthropists, and community-based organizations to create an ecosystem of partners that work together to get more equity-focused community solar projects financed and deployed. Part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP), the accelerator will create a pipeline of credit-ready community solar projects—particularly those that provide benefits to underserved communities—and connect them with mission-aligned investors and philanthropic organizations to get these projects funded.

In an effort to scale needed housing solutions, Enterprise and the Wells Fargo Foundation have teamed up to launch a new $20 million competition. The Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge will identify and propel implementation-ready innovations that transform current practices and reimagine access to affordable homes. Eligible applicants will compete for individual grants of $1 million, $2 million and $3 million to scale ideas that lay the groundwork for system-wide change. Winners also will receive two years of technical assistance to turn their ideas into real-world programs.

The Conductivity-enhanced materials for Affordable, Breakthrough Leapfrog Electric and thermal applications (CABLE) Conductor Manufacturing Prize aims to help supercharge our U.S. energy and manufacturing industries. Competitors must demonstrate significant enhancements in conductivity and affordability that enable U.S. manufacturers to leapfrog to next-generation materials. Competitors will provide a sample of their material for electrical conductivity testing and preliminary plans to scale-up and manufacture the material according to prize requirements. Any eligible entity can compete in Stage 2 regardless of whether they were a competitor in Stage 1.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) today announced an opportunity for hydropower developers and other stakeholders to receive technical assistance from the DOE national laboratories to advance hydropower’s role on the electricity grid. This technical assistance opportunity is open to hydropower developers, system operators, utilities, energy co-ops, manufacturers, regulators, policymakers, nonprofits, and others. Both for-profit and nonprofit companies or entities that are incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a particular state or territory of the United States are eligible to apply.

The Tech Deployment Track is an eight month accelerator program
that compresses the time, proximity, and attention required to forge partnerships,
identify projects, and move promising climate tech companies toward deployment
of their products or services in Alaska. Our focus is companies having a real impact on climate change who work on solutions in energy, transportation, or industry. However, we are open to any climate tech company who feels they have a market in Alaska.