Energy Department Announces $150 Million in Tax Credits to Fund in U.S. Renewable Energy Manufacturing

The U.S. Department of Energy today announced $150 million in renewable energy tax credits to build U.S. capabilities in renewable energy manufacturing. The credits will go towards funding domestic manufacturing equipment by 12 businesses. Through the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit program (48C Program), these awards will help create thousands of jobs across the country and increase U.S. competitiveness in the global renewable energy market.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz announced the 48C Program awards today at the Energy Department’s American Energy and Manufacturing Competitiveness Summit, jointly sponsored by the Council on Competitiveness. As part of the Department’s broader Renewable Energy Manufacturing Initiative, this summit brings together industry, government, academia and the Department’s national laboratories to address national challenges in manufacturing and energy.

The President’s Action Plan laid out steady, responsible action to cut carbon pollution in the United States, including deploying renewable energy, building a 21^st century transportation sector and cutting energy waste in homes, businesses and factories. The 48C Program supports this overall strategy to slow the effects of change, while continuing American leadership in renewable energy innovation.

The Departments of Energy and the Treasury worked in partnership to develop, launch, and award the funds for this program.  The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit authorized Treasury to provide developers with a funding tax credit of 30 percent for the manufacture of particular types of energy equipment.  Funded at $2.3 billion, the tax credit was made available to 183 domestic renewable energy manufacturing facilities during Phase I of the program. Today’s awards, or Phase II, were launched to utilize $150 million in tax credits that were not used by the previous awardees and support projects that must be placed in service by 2017.

Today’s awards include domestic manufacturing of a wide range of renewable energy and energy efficiency products – from hydropower and wind energy to smart grid technologies to fuel efficient vehicles – and will support thousands of new manufacturing jobs in nine states and dozens of supply chains throughout the United States. These projects, subject to final certification, include:

Renewable Energy: A $700,000 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit will allow LM Wind Power Blades (ND) Inc. to re-equip its Grand Forks, N.D., facility for increased participation in the North American large-blade market. The workforce at the facility will grow by 170 people as a result of the project, which improves the processing capabilities of materials used in manufacturing. The project assures that LM Wind Power Blades (ND) Inc. contributes to efficient American productivity with cost-effective materials.