The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) announced the selection of nine organizations—eight regional and one national—that will establish a network of Technical Assistance Partnerships (TAPs) to help industrial facilities and other large energy users increase the adoption of onsite energy technologies.
The organizations will receive up to $23 million in federal funding for multi-year technical assistance activities to accelerate the integration and deployment of clean energy technologies to drive U.S. industrial decarbonization, productivity and competitiveness.
Decarbonizing America’s industrial sector is key to tackling the climate crisis, as this vital sector is responsible for one-third of all energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the U.S.
Integrating clean onsite energy technologies can provide facility owners across the industrial sector with a practical and cost-effective solution to reduce their GHG emissions and dependence on fossil fuels by generating electricity and heat from flexible, reliable and affordable energy resources. Many onsite energy technologies also save energy and reduce operating costs by increasing efficiency and capturing usable energy that would otherwise be wasted.
The eight regional organizations selected each represent a multi-state region and will serve as the primary technical, market and policy point of contact for end-users and other state and local stakeholders. The national selectee, the University of Connecticut, will serve as the Onsite Energy Technical Analysis and Support Center (TASC) and centrally coordinate technical analysis and programmatic activities of the Onsite Energy TAPs.
The Onsite Energy TAPs selectees will help facilities across the nation integrate the latest onsite energy technologies by providing specialized technical assistance, including initial site screenings, identifying onsite energy opportunities, offering more advanced analysis to support project installations and more.
The TAPs will have expertise to advise on a wide variety on technologies, including battery storage, combined heat and power (CHP), district energy, fuel cells, geothermal, industrial heat pumps, renewable fuels, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal, thermal storage and wind power.
The Onsite Energy TAPs will actively engage with policymakers, utilities and other key stakeholders to accelerate pathways for integration of onsite energy technologies, and will also develop tools and resources, share best practices and build partnerships that advance industrial decarbonization across the country.
IEDO’s selections were made from the following topic areas:
- Topic 1 - Regional Onsite TAPs
- Topic 2 - Onsite Energy Technical Analysis and Support Center
Topic 1: Regional Onsite TAPs
- Pennsylvania State University | Mid-Atlantic & NY-NJ
- University of Illinois Chicago | Midwest & Central
- Houston Advanced Research Center | Southcentral
- University of New Hampshire | New England
- Washington State University | Northwest
- Cascade Energy, Inc. | Upper-West
- North Carolina State University | Southeast
- Optony, Inc. | Western
Topic 2: Onsite Energy Technical Analysis and Support Center
- University of Connecticut
