ARRA remains crucial for renewables

By Bruce Gruenewald
Director, Energy and Environmental Operations

The Department of Energy recently announced another round of funding from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help accelerate the development of conventional renewable energy generation projects.

Such loan guarantees allow access to capital for advanced renewable project development as credit markets continue to struggle and remain crucial for this reason. As part of the latest effort toward that end, the Department of Energy has created the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP), which offers a streamlined set of standards designed to expedite DOE’s loan guarantee underwriting process and leverage private sector expertise and capital for the efficient and prudent funding of eligible projects.

The DOE funding will cover the cost of loan guarantees which could support as much as $4 to 8 billion in lending to eligible projects and invite private sector participation to accelerate the financing of these renewable energy projects. The first solicitation under the new program will seek loan guarantee applications for conventional renewable energy generation projects, such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydropower.

The department’s Loan Guarantee Program provides a much-needed source of funding to ensure continued investment in renewable technologies in a struggling economy. NSI continues to believe these are crucial elements to get for-profit companies to embark on energy efficiency efforts that will later lead to cost savings but require investment at the outset.

Bruce Gruenewald is the Director, Energy and Environmental Operations for NSI. He runs the day-to-day operations of the sector and works with the vice president to help clients develop sustainable energy and environmental solutions for state and local governments. Prior to joining NSI, Mr. Gruenewald served as a program manager on several US EPA contracts. He provided technical leadership for the contracts, supervised multi-disciplinary consulting staffs, and managed the business and contractual relationships with the government. He also positioned his employers for new business opportunities in federal, state, and local markets, evaluated potential teaming partners, and wrote proposals and developed pricing and cost strategies in response to RFPs.