The Department of Energy Wednesday released a report highlighting the benefits of the Recovery Act to small businesses throughout the renewable energy industry and environmental management sector.
The report found that as of early March 2010, small businesses have been selected to receive nearly $5.4 billion in funding across a number of Recovery Act and related programs, including loans, loan guarantees, grants, contracts and tax incentives, in partnership with the Department of Treasury.
The report highlights 26 small businesses in a range of clean energy technologies, such as wind, solar, biofuels, along with critical new infrastructure, like Smart Grid, advanced batteries, energy storage, and energy efficiency tools. It also notes small businesses that are helping advance responsible environmental clean-up efforts.
Some success stories highlighted in the report include:
UQM Technologies, Inc. of Frederick, Colorado is a supplier of prototype electric propulsion and generator systems, including electric rotating machines and drive electronics. In 2006, UQM completed an R&D project with the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Vehicle Technologies Program to design a power-dense motor for use in electric drive vehicles. UQM is now positioned to take its technology into production, establishing a U.S. volume manufacturer of electric drive systems. The $45 million grant that UQM received under the Recovery Act will enable UQM to establish manufacturing facilities for production volumes of 120,000 electric drive systems per year, powering all-electric, hybrid-electric, plug-in hybrid-electric passenger cars and hybrid-electric trucks and buses, creating up to 3,000 jobs.
Silver Spring Networks, based in Redwood City, CA, did not receive a direct grant under the SGIG Program, but it is still a big winner through its partnerships with many utilities around the country, DOE said. For instance, Florida Power & Light (NYSE: FPL) received a $200 million grant for its Energy Smart Miami project, which represents the foundation of a $700 million investment to deploy Smart Meters to every residential FPL customer in Florida. Silver Spring provides the hardware, software and services that connect every device on the grid, creating a unified Smart Energy Platform. Other utility clients of Silver Spring who received SGIG grants include Pepco Holdings, Inc (NYSE: POM), Oklahoma Gas & Electric and American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP).
Solazyme Inc., is a San Francisco-based company founded in 2003 by a scientist and entrepreneur that were among the first people to focus on algae as an alternative to conventional fuels. The company pioneered a new technology to produce biodiesel from algae oil. With a $21.8 million ARRA grant under the Biomass Program, Solazyme plans to build its first integrated algae fuel refinery.
FloDesign Wind Turbine Corp. is a fledgling start-up that won an MIT clean energy competition last year. The company is developing a new high efficiency shrouded wind turbine capable of delivering more energy per unit of swept area. FloDesign Wind received an $8.3 million ARPA-E grant.
Universal Display Corporation received a $4 million ARRA grant from DOE, under the Building Technologies Program (BTP) to scale and transfer its technologies to a partner pilot organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) manufacturing line to be set up in the U.S. The project will facilitate the growth of the embryonic OLED lighting industry by providing prototype lighting panels to U.S. luminaire manufacturers to incorporate into products, to facilitate testing of design and to gauge customer acceptance.
Read the full report:
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