NREL Receives $1.38 Million from DOE to Help Commercialize Promising Clean Energy Technologies
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will be receiving $1.38 million from DOE to lead four projects for the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF). The funds will be used to advance promising renewable energy-related technologies with commercial potential and help strengthen the partnerships between the national labs and private-sector companies. Total value for the four projects including industry and NREL cost share is $2.78 million.
By working with strategic industry partners for each project, NREL will help validate the direction of the research across a variety of technologies from advanced hydrocarbon fuels to wind energy – through the lifecycle of each TCF project.
“We are excited to be working with these partners on cutting-edge energy technologies with commercial potential,” said Kristin Gray of NREL’s Technology Transfer Office. “Through DOE’s Technology Commercialization Fund, NREL will lend its leading expertise to help get these products to market – continuing our mission to make an impact in the renewable energy sector.”
The announced NREL TCF projects are:
- Improved Wind Plant Energy Production by Application of Wind-Plant Integrated Systems Engineering Model (WISDEM) to Wind Plant Controls
- NextEra Energy Resources, Juno Beach, Fla.
- Ystrategies, Pittsburgh, Penn.
- New DC Power System Topology for Telecommunications Facilities
- Verizon Wireless, New York, N.Y. (Headquarters)
- Scaled Production Of High Octane Biofuel From Biomass-Derived Dimethyl Ether
- Enerkem, Montreal, Canada.
- Thermal Management for Planar Package Power Electronics
- John Deere Electronic Solutions (JDES), Fargo, N.D.
“Deploying new clean energy technologies is an essential part of our nation’s effort to lead in the 21st century economy and in the fight against climate change,” said Lynn Orr, DOE’s Under Secretary for Science and Energy. “The funds announced today will help to accelerate the commercialization of cutting-edge energy technologies developed in our national labs, making them more widely available to American consumers and businesses.”
The TCF is administered by DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), which works to expand the commercial impact of DOE’s portfolio of research, development, demonstration and deployment activities. In February, OTT announced the first department-wide solicitation to the DOE national laboratories for TCF funding proposals. It received 104 applications from across the laboratory system, for projects in two topic areas:
- Topic Area 1: Projects for which additional technology maturation is needed to attract a private partner; and
- Topic Area 2: Cooperative development projects between a lab and industry partner(s), designed to bolster the commercial application of a lab-developed technology.
“The great work at the national labs and across DOE’s programs make the Department one of the largest supporters of technology transfer within the federal government,” said Jetta Wong, Director of the Office of Technology Transitions. “These TCF selections will further strengthen those efforts across a broad spectrum of energy technologies and advance DOE’s important mission to transition technologies to the market.”
All projects selected for the TCF will receive an equal amount of non-federal funds to match the federal investment. Nearly $16 million in funding will support 54 projects at 12 national labs involving 52 private-sector partners.
