The state Department of Commerce recently announced $37 million in grants to boost clean energy innovation and to support clean energy projects in Washington, and multiple Tri-Cities projects are on the list.

“Communities all over Washington will benefit now and in the future from these strategic investments in clean energy,” said Commerce Director Mike Fong. “The wide range of projects funded reflect the state’s overarching climate goals to create economic opportunities and jobs, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, increase power supply reliability and resilience, reduce emissions and strengthen the clean technology supply chain.”

One set of grant awards – totaling $14 million – continues Washington state’s investments to support research, development and demonstration of new technologies that improve the production, use, storage and transportation of energy.

A second set – totaling $23 million – will fund a wide variety of projects to promote clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including activities that modernize the electric grid, promote solar energy, enhance community resilience, support low-income communities and facilitate siting and permitting of new clean energy projects.

The Research, Development and Demonstration awards fund multiple new and developing technologies, ranging from low-head turbines to create hydropower, to several different carbon capture technologies, to low-carbon concrete products.

Local projects receiving grants include:

• $325,000 to Emrgy Inc., Pasco for the development and demonstration of a plug-and-play low-head turbine to make low-head/low-flow hydropower facilities adaptable to energy production.
• $990,000 to Carbon Containment Lab, Prosser for a feasibility study to use woody biomass for biogasification and a carbon sequestration project.

Responding to input and feedback, Commerce redesigned a significant portion of clean energy grant funding to consolidate and streamline the application process and assist in matching eligible projects with available funds. This general grant solicitation pooled funding and enabled a single application across all eligible applicants and project types.

Local projects receiving grants include:

• $1.9 million to Pacific Green Fertilizer Corp., Richland for industrial decarbonization at the Atlas Agro nitrogen fertilizer plant. The plant will use renewable electricity and water to produce green hydrogen, which will be used to provide affordable, zero-carbon fertilizers to farmers, reducing dependence on imports and the carbon footprint of agriculture.
• $1.7 million to Lamb Weston Inc., Paterson to support industrial decarbonization of the food and beverage sector at the Lamb Weston’s Paterson plant. Outdated and energy-intensive heating and cooling equipment will be replaced to reduce energy consumption and emissions.
• $2.9 million to Lamb Weston, Inc., Pasco to support industrial decarbonization at the Lamb Weston Pasco facility that produces more than 300 million pounds of potato products annually. Equipment will be upgraded to use energy efficient water pre-heating technology to reduce emissions from fossil-fueled heaters and water consumption.
• $1 million to Fasahov Solar LLC, Sunnyside for a 2 MW solar project paired with multiple agrivoltaic practices including native pollinator plants, sheep grazing and beehives.

About $29 million of this funding is provided by Washington’s Climate Commitment Act, or CCA, supplemented with additional state funding for energy projects.

The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health.

Information about the CCA is available at climate.wa.gov.