The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) recently announced a $2 million increase to the available funds for the Animal Waste to Energy Grant Program for the 2019 fiscal year.  The program has up to $6 million in previously allocated funds, and has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Maryland Department of Agriculture to make available an additional $2 million allocated via the Strategic Investment Fund.  The program aims to encourage replacement of fossil fuels with biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decrease dependency on foreign fuel, and build an additional revenue stream for farms.

The program has two areas of interest (AOI), farm/pilot scale (capacities less than 2MW) and community/regional scale (capacities greater than 2MW).  Businesses, government agencies, and non-profits are eligible for the program.  Up to $4 million will be available for the farm/pilot scale AOI, which will require a 40% cost-share by the applicant.  Up to $2 million will be available for the community/regional scale AOI, which will require a 50% cost-share by the applicant.

To be eligible for a grant, projects must use animal waste through any proven process to generate electricity, reduce the volume of animal waste, and address the fate of the byproduct.

The application deadline for the program grants is December 15, 2018.  Projects are to be fully commissioned by December 30, 2021.