On November 14, 2023, the U.S. Department of Energy opened the second round of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program, which will provide an investment of an additional $3.9 billion for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025. Successful projects will deploy federal funding to maximize grid infrastructure deployment at-scale and leverage private sector and non-federal public capital to advance deployment goals. The GRIP Programs are:
- Grid Resilience Utility and Industry Grants (FY24/FY25 $918 million) fund comprehensive transmission and distribution technology solutions that will mitigate multiple hazards across a region or within a community. Grid Resilience Grant selections will focus on hardening infrastructure with digitization and automation; improving tools to restore power to the grid during outages; and investing in technologies to improve the efficiency of the grid, such as advanced conductoring and reconductoring.
- Smart Grid Grants (FY24/FY25 $1.08 billion) increase the flexibility, efficiency, reliability, and resilience of the electric power system, with particular focus on increasing capacity of the transmission system, improving interconnection processes to accelerate clean energy build out, integrating renewable energy at the transmission and distribution levels, and facilitating the electrification of vehicles, buildings, and other grid-edge devices. Smart Grid Grants will expand opportunities to deploy transmission, specifically advanced conductors, high-voltage direct current, and grid enhancing technologies, as well as more rapid processing of interconnection applications and minimizing queue-related delays for clean energy at both the transmission and distribution levels.
- The Grid Innovation Program (FY24/FY25 $1.82 billion) provides financial assistance to one or multiple states, Tribes, local governments, and public utility commissions to collaborate with electric grid owners and operators to deploy projects that use innovative approaches to transmission, storage, and distribution infrastructure to enhance grid resilience and reliability. Selections in this program will include transmission projects to support remote clean energy generation, improve interregional interconnection, and that use innovative technologies or execution approaches. The program will also prioritize projects that provide scalability, replicability, and innovation in the distribution space like district electrification, grid and resilience services from distributed energy resources, and battery energy storage systems.
State Energy Offices are eligible to apply for the Smart Grid Grants and the Grid Innovation Program. Concept papers are a required first step in the application process and are due at 5:00 p.m. ET on January 12, 2024.