Weekly Jolt ⚡️ Essential News for Clean Energy Champions

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July 26, 2023

Funding Updates 

DOE Funds Domestic Lithium Supply Expansion

DOE is investing $10.9 million in 10 projects across nine states to extract and convert battery-grade lithium from geothermal brine sources. These projects will increase domestic access to cost-effective sources of lithium hydroxide—the form of lithium used for advanced batteries—needed for battery storage and electric vehicles.

DOE Investments Will Optimize Lifecycle of Solar Energy Systems, Minimize Waste

DOE will put $20 million toward improving installation quality of photovoltaic systems and streamlining the reuse and recyclability of solar panels. Projects funded by this program will work to develop solutions that enable rapid solar energy deployment in the United States over the next decade. 

Prizes and Competitions

Thirty-Two Teams Prepare for the 2024 Collegiate Wind Competition

DOE selected 32 college and university teams to participate in the 2024 Collegiate Wind Competition, which helps prepare a future wind energy workforce. The competition invites college students from a range of disciplines to design, build, and test a prototype wind turbine; develop a hypothetical wind farm; and network with the wind energy industry, their communities, and local media outlets.

Community Power Accelerator Prize – Round 2

Round 2 of the American-Made Community Power Accelerator Prize: Accessing Capital to Deploy Equitable Community Solar is underway. This $10 million prize is designed to fast-track the efforts of emerging and expanding solar developers to support community solar projects across the country.

Equity in Energy

DOE Partners With 9 Island and Remote Communities to Boost Resilience and Plan for Low-Cost Renewable Energy Systems

DOE added nine more remote and island community projects to its Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project, building local energy systems that are sustainable, resilient, and reliable year-round. The communities—stretching from Hawaii to Maine—will join 23 others that are already working with regional partners and national laboratories to address local energy challenges with clean energy solutions.

Fact Over Fiction: Know the Truth About Clean Energy

Whether you’ve decided to power your home with clean energy or are still weighing the costs and benefits, make sure to arm yourself with facts from a trusted source. Read about EERE’s myth busting campaign.

Building and Industry

DOE Connecting Industry with High Performance Computing Resources at National Laboratories

DOE is connecting industry partners with high-performance computing resources and national laboratory experts to advance an equitable clean energy future. Selected teams will harness the raw processing power of our national labs’ supercomputers to apply advanced modeling, simulation, and data analysis to manufacturing and materials projects.

Renewable News

Success Story—Improving Solar Permitting by Addressing Questions about Stormwater Runoff

Local and state governments require solar installations to address potential stormwater runoff before a construction permit is granted. Communities can now use a solar-specific tool to understand stormwater runoff at their local solar energy installations.

Deadline Extended

Request for Information on the Progression of Clean Fuels in the Shipping Industry

The international shipping industry relies on cheap, energy-intensive fuels to transport heavy freight internationally. To advance the decarbonization of worldwide shipping, DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office is extending the deadline for its request for information about the maritime industry’s alternative fuels trajectory and key barriers to achieving the transition to zero-emission fuels. Responses are due August 18.

Events and Webinars 

Join DOE at two upcoming Clean Energy Jobs and Workforce Accelerator Workshops in Milwaukee, WI, on August 29–30, and Atlanta, GA, on September 20–21. We are seeking stakeholder input on how to fill the gaps in economic and workforce development efforts to ensure that investments in clean energy result in high-quality, accessible careers.

Partnership How-To's: Lessons Learned for Successful Energy-Efficiency Programs

July 27 | 1 p.m. ET

Learn about the dynamics of successful partnerships in energy-efficiency programs, including understanding organizational capabilities, assessing potential partners, determining partnership duration, and understanding the benefits of entering partnerships for community expansion or market growth.

Federal Energy Management Program Cyber Series: Understand and Mitigate Cybersecurity Gaps 

August 2 | 3 p.m. ET

Learn how to better understand cybersecurity vulnerabilities that have been identified and how to take action to address the source of high-priority gaps.

HPC4EI Informational Webinar Summer 2023 Solicitation

August 2 | 11 a.m. ET

This webinar will provide an overview of the application process, topics of interest, and tips for using the HPC4EI proposal system.

Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize Informational Webinar

August 3 | 1 p.m. ET

Join the National Renewable Energy Laboratory prize team for an introductory webinar to learn about the prize and strategies for developing a successful submission package.

GTO Quarterly Webinar

August 3 | 1:30 p.m. ET

Learn more about the Geothermal Technologies Office’s upcoming projects and strategies. Hear from key staff members about their plans and initiatives.

Battery Energy Storage System Procurement Considerations

August 8 | 1 p.m. ET

This training by the Federal Energy Management Program will help agencies understand considerations and best practices surrounding federal procurement of stationary battery energy storage systems.

Community Power Accelerator Round 2 Webinar

August 8 | 3 p.m. ET

Join the prize administrators as they cover key details about submission requirements, due dates, and prize amounts.

On-Site Wind Energy Project Operations & Maintenance 

August 9 | 12 p.m. ET

This training will provide federal agency staff with an overview of operations and maintenance best practices for on-site wind energy projects and considerations to address in an agreement with a third-party service provider.

Faster Resilience Assessments: An Introduction to the New Technical Resilience Navigator Lite 

August 15 | 1:30 p.m. ET

This training will introduce participants to the Federal Energy Management Program's new tool, the Technical Resilience Navigator Lite, which offers users a way to kick-start their planning efforts by quickly identifying risks to critical loads.