Research, Development and Demonstration Program (RD&D)

The Clean Energy Fund (CEF) Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) program funds projects that engage in strategic research and development of new and emerging clean energy technologies. These technologies provide opportunities for economic development and support climate goals.

News

Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Phase Two Applications Posted
Commerce will open Phase Two of Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) grants on February 2, 2024. Approximately $3.9 million in funding, from the 2021-2023 Biennium is available for entities to engage in strategic research and development of new and emerging clean energy technologies that will help achieve climate goals. If…

Background

Continued funding supports continuous innovation. Since its inception in 2013, the Clean Energy Fund has included funding for strategic clean energy RD&D. The RD&D fund was initially called the Federal Match program, and it focused on supporting Washington research institutions competing for federal funds to develop or demonstrate clean energy technologies that had not reached full commercial viability. The program transformed into the Research Development and Demonstration grant, with an expanded scope of eligible activities and eligible applicants. This round of funding has been designed to include an even greater diversity of projects and applicants. Recent awardees from CEF2 and CEF3 span a variety of technologies.*

  • Beta Hatch – $937,800 to design and build Washington’s first commercial insect farm, with air handling systems to optimize waste heat use from a data center.
  • Corumat – $2,344,500 for the development of bio-derived plastics for the food industry.
  • Composite Recycling Technology Center (CRTC)  – $707,570 to develop new lightweight products from recycled aerospace carbon fiber composite scrap for multiple applications, such as marine cabling for kelp and aquatic shellfish farming and advanced cross-laminated timber.
  • Oscilla Power – $555,737 to advance their Triton wave energy converter technology in order to capture energy from ocean waves at the lowest levelized cost of electricity possible.
  • Sironex Renewables – $234,450 to develop new, high-performance ingredients for cleaning products using natural oils and agricultural waste instead of petroleum.
  • Spokane Eco – $515,790 for developing machine-learning-based control methods to optimize building and equipment control systems in a building complex.
  • University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory – $93,309 to demonstrate an improvement in wave energy conversion technology, through the development of a new control system for converting the energy in waves to electricity.
  • University of Washington Mechanical Engineering Department – $1,125,360 to make composites manufacturing economically viable by ensuring high part quality, lowering energy costs and minimizing waste and scrap.
  • Microsoft – $675,000 for fuel cells in data center environment.
  • Dresser-Rand, a Siemens Business – $870,572 to develop, demonstrate, fabricate and assemble a Pneumatic Ocean Wave Test Facility to test HydroAir™, a variable radius turbine system that generates electric power from ocean waves.

*This list is not exhaustive.

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