U.S. Energy Department Invests $430 Million for Clean Energy Supply Chain Projects in Former Coal-Reliant Communities

The U.S. Energy Department on Oct. 22 announced $428 million for 14 projects to support clean energy manufacturing projects in areas that were previously reliant on coal for their local economy. Selected by the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, the projects are led by small and medium businesses and would benefit 15 communities across the U.S. with de-commissioned coal sites.

The project selections will cover five specific clean energy supply chains– energy efficiency, batteries, grid components, low-carbon materials, and clean power generation. The selected projects will be located across multiple states including  Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky, and Washington.

A manufacturing site in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania received the largest award of $87 million to manufacture 1,000 linear generators which can operate on any gaseous fuel. Terra CO2 Holdings secured almost $53 million to construct a low-carbon cement manufacturing facility in Magna, Utah to produce Supplementary Cementitious Material that would result in  70 percent less carbon emissions than Ordinary Portland Cement. MetOx International received $80 million for Project Arch, an advanced superconductor manufacturing facility in Southeastern U.S. Project Arch’s superconductors would help to boost grid capacity and improve the integration of renewable energy into the grid.

The objective of the funding is to bolster the domestic supply chain for the clean energy industry. In recent years, there have been concerted efforts from the U.S. government which include tariffs on imported components and funding to boost the domestic supply chain for the renewable energy industry. Since the passage of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. solar supply chain has gained over 85 gigawatts of manufacturing capacity.

U.S. imports of solar photovoltaic modules rose to almost 18 gigawatts in the second quarter of this year, according to the department’s quarterly solar industry update. According to a White House factsheet released in May, imports of solar modules from Southeast Asia, where Chinese manufacturers have been found to be circumventing antidumping and countervailing duties, have been on the rise. In May this year, the Biden administration doubled tariffs on imported solar cells from China to protect the domestic solar supply chain.