The Maryland Energy Administration has launched a pilot grant program to help municipalities and other organizations plan microgrid and distributed energy projects.
“MEA recognizes that the costs incurred in designing successful projects can be significant, and also that well-engineered and analyzed plans lead to shovel-ready designs which achieve quicker buy-in from decision-makers and capital providers,” the agency said on it website Feb. 26.
The Resilient Maryland program will provide grant funding for eligible organizations and governmental entities to identify, plan and design microgrids, resiliency hubs, resilient facility power systems and advanced combined heat and power systems.
The MEA aims to disburse $500,000 this year to businesses, utilities, government agencies and other industry stakeholders for feasibility, financial, societal cost-benefit and engineering analysis needed to identify microgrid, CHP and resiliency hub candidate sites.
The agency said the grants are for planning and designing shovel-ready projects that will:
- Bolster local governmental essential services such as fire and rescue operations
- Attract new industries to economic development districts
- Provide resilient and efficient energy to academic organizations
- Provide high-quality power to businesses, multifamily housing communities, hospitals and medical institutions.
In part, the program aims to prime the market for broader clean energy adoption while leading to practical, replicable system designs, the MEA said.
The Maryland agency will allocate individual grants of up to $100,000 for individual community/campus microgrid planning, $25,000 for resilient energy system planning, and $10,000 for advanced CHP planning and design and resiliency hub planning and design.
The grants cannot cover hard or soft asset costs for clean energy systems or system components.
Grant applications are due by May 1. The MEA expects to issue award notifications from May 13 to May 27. Executed agreements will be due by May 29. Winning proposals must be finished by May 31, 2021.
More details are avalable on Resilient Maryland.
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