The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is issuing $68 million in grants and loan guarantees for renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects. They will be distributed under the Rural Development's Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).
The announcement comes on the heels of President Obama's executive actions to further the solar deployment in the U.S.
Solar projects in North Carolina will receive the lion's share of the newly announced REAP funding, with $55.3 million in loan guarantees and grants for 22 solar energy projects. Among the awards is a $3 million loan guarantee to Broadway Solar Center LLC to help finance a 5 MW solar array in Columbus County, a $4.9 million loan guarantee for a similar project in Hertford County and a $2.1 million guarantee for a project in Warren County.
‘These loan guarantees and grants will have far-reaching impacts nationwide, particularly in the rural communities where these projects are located,’ says Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who issued the statement while visiting North Carolina.
During Vilsack's trip, he visited the 4.5 MW Progress Solar array in Bunn, N.C., which received a $3.4 million REAP loan guarantee in 2012.
