Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program (Section 40209)

The Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program was created through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) of 2021. The program is designed to provide $750 million in grants to small- and medium-sized manufacturers in communities where coal mines or coal power plants have closed to retrofit existing or build new manufacturing and industrial facilities to produce or recycle advanced energy products. Eligible manufacturing firms must have less than $100 million in gross annual sales, fewer than 500 employees on site, and annual energy bills between $100,000 and $2.5 million. The program explicitly includes equipment for producing green hydrogen, energy storage systems, and energy conservation technologies for the industrial sector, but it also gives DOE discretion in funding a broader array of mitigation technologies. Projects must be completed in three years, with funding available through 2026.