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GFO-20-310 – Mobile Renewable Backup Generation (MORBUGs)

CA Energy Commission · 5632

Eligibility details

This solicitation is open to all public and private entities with the exception of local publicly owned electric utilities.

Matching funds & resources

Source matching-funds field: 20%. Match funding is required in the amount of at least 20% minimum for Groups 1 and 2 of the requested project funds. Match funding for Group 3 will be extra credit.

Matching funds and leveraged resources are different requirements. Read the description and reviewed rules below before determining resource commitments.

About this opportunity

The purpose of this solicitation is to provide $8 million of Technology Demonstration and Deployment (TD&D) and $6 million of Applied Research and Development (AR&D) funding to support the 2018-2020 EPIC Investment Plan Strategic Initiative S7.2.3 to Integrate Climate Readiness into Electricity System Operations, Tools, and Models. This solicitation will fund projects to advance clean energy mobile backup systems or Mobile Renewable Backup Generation Systems (MORBUGs) that increase the resiliency of the electricity system to climate change and extreme weather events. With efficiency improvements and cost reductions in renewable generation and the development of more energy-dense storage technologies, primarily for electric vehicles, it is now possible to create a clean energy mobile backup system. Some technologies are currently coming on the market to provide services such as providing power for charging phones or other electronic devices, usually in a public space, such as a campus, or to provide vehicle charging in remote locations. However, they have not been demonstrated in environments requiring greater capacity and reliability, such as during grid outages in emergency response. The lack of data on performance of these systems during critical needs, such as in power outages, is impeding their broader deployment. Demonstrations of system performance in different applications is needed to build confidence for their applications in emergencies. Due to these reasons, these newer systems can only supplement mobile fossil backup generation but cannot fully replace a mobile fossil backup generator. Applied research is needed to design and pilot systems that can provide sufficient power and duration to fully replace a mobile fossil-fueled system.

Funding geography: At least 25% of available EPIC technology demonstration and deployment funding must be allocated to project sites located in, and benefiting, disadvantaged communities; and an additional minimum 10% of funds must be allocated to projects sites located in and benefiting low-income communities.

Funding instrument: Grant. Issuing jurisdiction: California. This is not a geographic eligibility determination.