NORTH DAKOTA INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION SUPPORTS NEW RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS
BISMARCK, ND – July 29, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — The North Dakota Industrial Commission has approved $850,000 in research and development grants for two renewable energy projects. The projects involve research and development of renewable energy technologies and processes that have strong growth potential in North Dakota.
The Legislature established the renewable energy grant program in 2007 to provide funding for research, development, marketing and education to foster growth of renewable energy including wind, biofuels, biomass, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal and hydrogen.
“These two projects are examples of research that enhance renewable energy by utilizing our own North Dakota agricultural projects as well as building on our work to advance North Dakota’s unmanned aerial systems (UAS) industry,” said the Commission in a joint statement. “Both of these projects could lead to manufacturing opportunities here in the state.” The North Dakota Industrial Commission, consisting of Governor Jack Dalrymple, as chairman, Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, oversees the Renewable Energy Program.
The projects are:
c2renew – Fargo, ND
Amount awarded: $500,000
Total Project Costs: $1,250,000
c2renew combines agriculture’s leftovers such as sunflower hulls, oat hulls, sugar beet pulp and flax stalks with plastics to create biocomposites that can be used in a number of applications. Expected results of the project include expanded production from 520,000 pounds of material to 6 million pounds of material per year, increased throughput rate, lower production costs, expanded compounding capabilities, and new customers and market growth. Ultimately, the applicant plans to establish a production facility in Colfax.
Packet Digital – Fargo, ND
Amount awarded: $350,000
Total Project Costs: $1,000,000
Packet Digital is a pioneer in using autonomous system-level power management to achieve dramatic power savings. The unique, industry-leading, patented architecture is flexible and portable across multiple applications, from laptops to handsets, and from servers to embedded devices.
The overall goal of this project is to create a solar soaring power management system for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to initially double fly times and ultimately provide unlimited endurance powered by solar energy. This project has the potential to create manufacturing opportunities in North Dakota for a variety of products including solar arrays and UAS along with product development opportunities for ND companies.
Three grant rounds are held each year. The next application deadline is September 1. For more information on these projects or the program, contact Karlene Fine (701-328-3722) or Andrea Holl Pfennig (701-328-5300) or visit www.nd.gov/ndic/renew-infopage.htm.
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CONTACT
Andrea Pfennig (701) 426-9827
Phone: (701) 328-3722 FAX: (701) 328-2820
“Your Gateway to North Dakota”: www.nd.gov