New Jersey Fund Encourage Green Technology Projects

A New Jersey program offers interest-free capital to green companies.

 

Companies providing goods and services for renewable energy and other green technologies can get interest-free loans of up to $3.3 million for each project based in New Jersey.

This new initiative was developed to address the goals of Governor Corzine’s New Jersey Energy Master Plan and to enable New Jersey to remain on the cutting edge of clean technology development while fostering new jobs and economic growth. The program is funded by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA).

Approximately $24 million is currently available to fund projects. It is anticipated that $12 million in funding will be available annually for this program beginning next year and running through 2012. Funding is subject to BPU approval of the annual Clean Energy programs and budgets and is further subject to state appropriations law.

To take advantage of the funding, applicant companies must be for-profit entities (including corporate joint ventures) that currently manufacture or plan to manufacture eligible Class I renewable energy or energy-efficiency systems, products or technologies in New Jersey and are entering or expanding within the manufacturing stage of commercial development. Preference will be given to those projects that demonstrate a greater percentage of the project being designed, manufactured, processed, assembled or made ready for commercial sale at the company’s project facility in New Jersey.

The Clean Energy Manufacturing Fund represents an expansion of the state’s Edison Innovation Fund, which was established to spur innovation, create new, high-paying jobs and cultivate an entrepreneurial environment for technology and life sciences companies in New Jersey. Projects financed under the Edison Innovation Clean Energy Manufacturing Fund must contribute to the cost-competitiveness of renewable energy in New Jersey or offer other tangible environmental or economic development benefits to New Jersey consumers. It provides support to companies seeking to site a Class I renewal energy or energy-efficient manufacturing facility in the state.

Eligible projects may embrace a variety of technologies, including energy-efficiency equipment and technology that reduce electric or natural gas consumption, such as furnaces, boilers and air-conditioning systems with higher efficiencies than energy codes or standards, and lighting systems, including LED (light-emitting diode) lights and energy monitoring and control systems. Class I renewable energy projects involving photovoltaics, solar, wind, renewably fueled fuel cells, wave, tidal, sustainable harvested biomass and methane gas from landfills are also among eligible technologies.

Other technologies or equipment that can demonstrate their integral nature to the development of Class I renewable energy and energy-efficiency technologies, including “balance of system” technologies that produce or support the production of renewable or clean electricity generation, will also be considered for funding.

Maximum total funding per each company project, $3.3 million, is available under two separate program components. The first piece is a traditional grant that provides up to 10 percent of total CEMF funds ($300,000) for identifying and securing a leased or purchased site, completing initial project facility design, and obtaining permits and regulatory approvals to operate a facility. To receive the grant, companies must be able to provide a 50-percent cash match of total project costs from other sources/collaborators. At closing, 20 percent of the approved funds will be advanced for upfront seed money with the remainder to be paid after work has been completed and invoices have been submitted.

The second part is a zero-interest loan up to a maximum $3 million that can be used to support site improvements, equipment procurement and facility construction/completion. Eligible companies must have a minimum 50-percent match of total project costs from firmly committed, nonstate-derived matching support. No more than one-half of the total project costs of the funds approved may be advanced prior to commercial production.

Repayment will begin on the first month of the fourth year on the anniversary date of the closing of the funding and will fully amortize in equal monthly payments over the remaining seven years of the repayment period. One-third of the loan, up to $1 million, may be converted to a performance grant with no repayment if the company meets all pre-determined milestones during the three-year fund disbursement period.

The program involves a competitive solicitation process and funding occurs during specific cycles. The next solicitation will begin June 1, 2009 subject to the availability of funds.

To learn more about the Edison Innovation Clean Energy Manufacturing Fund, call 1-(866) 534-7789, send an e-mail to EdisonCEMF@njeda.com, or visit www.njeda.com/CEMFApplication.

4/20/2009, 2:15 pm