The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund has launched Alpha Program, which will fund development and testing of emerging clean energy and help ease the journey toward the commercial market.
“We are well positioned to become a global leader in clean-energy innovation, with Connecticut”™s industrial infrastructure and pool of world-class talent and research institutions, from assisting with technology feasibility to providing access to early-stage capital,” said Daniel Esty, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and Yale professor.
Esty said the Alpha Program is designed to leverage the state”™s assets and assist emerging technology development and commercialization. The initiative, he said, is central to sustained jobs growth and the growth of the state”™s clean energy industry.
“This initiative will also reduce clean energy costs, enhance energy security and ensure a healthier environment,” Esty said. Connecticut”™s track record in recent years of encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship is what has helped to make the prospect of a long-term clean energy industry and sustainability clusters possible, he said.
“This program offers our state”™s innovators an outstanding first-step resource to help them turn cutting-edge ideas into prototypes,” said Peter Longo, president and executive director of Connecticut Innovations in Rocky Hill, which administers the operations of the Clean Energy Fund. He said the new program will guide clean energy technologies into the state”™s marketplace.
The Clean Energy Fund is encouraging companies undertaking early-stage clean energy technology development to apply to the program for funding of up to $200,000 per project. Applications are going to be reviewed and funded twice a year through a selection process; applications for the first round of funding are due by June 15.
Esty said the funding will be provided in two phases. The first will offer grants of up to $50,000 for engineering, design and development, and the second will offer loans of up to $150,000 for creating prototypes, construction and testing.
Ventures eligible for the program can be specialized in full systems, components or manufacturing innovations in areas including: electricity generation from renewable energy sources and waste energy recovery; geothermal and solar thermal for heating and cooling; combined heat and power; advanced energy efficiency; energy management; electric grid infrastructure; fuel cells; hydrogen and biofuel production.
The Alpha Program is one of three early-stage technology investment programs offered by Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and Connecticut Innovations. Longo said successful Alpha Program participants are encouraged to apply to the other two programs ”“ the Operational Demonstration Program and the Connecticut Clean Tech Fund.
