Tribes Are Going Solar!

Native Village Integrates Solar and Storage to Cut Costs, Displace Diesel

Local crew with Hughes’ solar PV system. Photo from Tanana Chiefs Conference.

With help from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy grant funding, the Native Village of Hughes installed a 120-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system that will cut diesel use and costs while advancing the Village’s renewable energy goal of 50% by 2025. Once the system is integrated with the local power system, Hughes will be able to bring rural Alaska’s largest solar project online.

Read more on their blog.

More Funding Opportunities

DOE Announces Intent to Issue New Funding Opportunity for Tribal Energy Infrastructure Development

On Dec. 12, 2018, the Office of Indian Energy announced a Notice of Intent to issue a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) entitled “Energy Infrastructure Development on Indian Lands – 2019” in early 2019.

Through the planned FOA, the Office of Indian Energy intends to solicit applications from Indian tribes, which, for the purposes of the FOA, include Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Village Corporations, and Tribal Energy Resource Development Organizations, to:

• Install energy generating system(s) and/or energy efficiency measure(s) for tribal buildings;
• Deploy community-scale energy generating system(s) on tribal lands; or
• Install energy system(s) for autonomous operation (independent of the traditional centralized electric power grid) to power a single or multiple essential tribal facilities during emergency situations or for tribal community resilience.

DOE envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of grants. Under the planned FOA and as required by statute, a 50% recipient cost share of the total project costs is required and must come from non-federal sources, unless otherwise allowed by law.

Through this planned FOA, the Office of Indian Energy will continue its efforts to maximize the deployment of energy solutions for the benefit of American Indians and Alaska Natives and help build the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to implement those energy solutions. This planned funding will help Native American and Alaska Native communities harness their vast energy resources to reduce or stabilize energy costs, as well as increase energy security and resilience. See the Office of Indian Energy website for a map and summaries of previous competitively funded projects.

Download the Notice of Intent (DE-FOA-0002031).