Solar PPA pioneers and "infrastructure as a service" investors have been selected to resume plans to promote Tesla and utility-scale renewable energy.

Jigar Shah believes that the Department of Energy can bring new clean technologies into bankability through the $40 billion loan program office.

Jigar Shah has decades of experience in bringing clean energy technologies to commercial scale. As the CEO and co-founder of SunEdison, he helped create the solar power purchase agreement (PPA) model that is now the core of the industry. As the president and co-founder of Generate Capital, he applies similar expertise to the commercialization of next-generation clean energy and decarbonization technologies. 

Now, the clean energy entrepreneur known by Greentech Media fans, as the co-host of The Energy Gang podcast, is bringing his keen insight to the public sector. This week, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm appointed Shah as the head of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Program Office and confirmed that the agency’s loan security rights of more than 40 billion US dollars will promote the commercialization of technology in the Department of Energy to help meet the requirements. The Deng government played an important role in its radical policies. Decarbonization goals. 

Shah said in the last episode of the energy gang this week, “I’m not kidding when I say that I am more afraid than excited about the responsibility of managing the project.” But he also proposed some principles he intends to follow to resume a plan that helped boost an already successful company like Tesla before being shelved by the Trump administration. 

He said: "The Office of the Loan Program has completed approximately US$35 billion in authorization in its history and has made money for taxpayers by paying loan interest during this period." Despite the dramatic failures of some of the companies it supports, especially the thin-film solar startup Solyndra.

However, Shah added, “If you want to own the world’s leading electric car manufacturer,” as he described Tesla, “you have to place multiple bets. Some of these bets will result in losses,” such as bankruptcy ( Now recovering) Fisker Automotive, an electric car manufacturer, and A123, a bankrupt lithium-ion battery manufacturer, provided loans. 

In addition to the track record of recipients of personal loan guarantees, "the loan program office is a bridge to bankability," he said. Although names like Tesla and Solyndra have attracted the most media attention, the loan program office of the Obama administration also "provided many, many loan guarantees for wind and solar projects in 2009 [and] 2010, frankly At the time, Wall Street did not believe that wind and solar projects were financing." 

"It wasn't until 2014 that you started to see the creation of a bridge to bankability for the wind and solar industries," which is now the lowest cost and fastest growing new generation capacity in the United States and around the world, he said. "My feeling is that we need to build 100 more such bridges for technologies that we all think are mature but have not been treated that way," he said. 

Shah has long called for the focus of government funding to shift from early research and development to large-scale deployment. Generate Capital has taken a similar approach. It has raised more than $1 billion in funding around the "infrastructure as a service" model to provide funds to deploy and operate new technologies as a stepping stone to prove its commercial value to potential customers. Larger supporters. 

He said that DOE is known for its R&D work through the National Laboratory Network and ARPA-E projects. But bringing new technologies to market requires a different approach. 

"We have been discussing the role of the private sector for a long time and how much the private sector can do to strengthen these solutions," he said. But in view of the need for large-scale decarbonization to prevent the worst effects of climate change, "the federal government must play a huge and important role." 

"From a technical point of view, there are many areas that are mature, but they are not mature from the point of view of obtaining capital," he said. "This is a relationship, and the office has a clear authorization to participate." 

He pointed out that this does not mean that the Shah intends to concentrate the Ministry of Energy's loans on a few large projects-in fact, quite the opposite. The clean energy provisions in the Comprehensive Expenditure and COVID-19 Relief Act passed by Congress in December include a $35 billion energy research and development program, and also set guidelines to “make the loan program office easier to use by early-stage companies,” he said . 

"You really need to hire a lobbyist for $150,000 per month to get through the loan program office," he said. This has led to the advantage of large-scale transactions. The smallest loan for the program to date is US$43 million, with an average of approximately US$500 million. 

"Although I cannot guarantee that changes will occur in the first week, I think Congress, Secretary of State Granholm, and the government have sent a signal that they want this office to be a more democratic place, and everyone feels they have a fair chance. ,"He said. 

In terms of technologies eligible for loans, about half of the more than US$40 billion in available technologies are dedicated to advanced fossil fuels and nuclear power. But 22 billion US dollars can be used for direct loans or loan guarantees for renewable energy or advanced automobile technology, and another 2 billion US dollars for projects on tribal land. 

Shah pointed out that several "non-controversial" clean energy technologies may be the beneficiaries, such as offshore wind, geothermal, and green hydrogen. He said that electric passenger vehicles are part of the mission of the plan, and Congress may be willing to extend this power to support medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles. 

As for the tribal energy plan, “there are a lot of resources available on these lands,” he said. "I don't think anyone will work together to figure out how to bring prosperity to many of these tribes by deploying renewable energy. I think someone will work together to try to solve this problem."