Joint US-Israel program opens renewable energy funding call

Binational Industrial Research & Development (BIRD) Energy program is offering a $1 million grant per innovative project from all areas of renewable energy – including tidal, wave, ocean thermal energy conversion, solar and storage.

BIRD Energy initiative, a program for joint United States-Israel industrial research and development (R&D) in renewable and energy efficiency technologies, has launched a new funding opportunity for 2018.

Supported by US Department of Energy, Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Israel Innovation Authority, the program is looking to provide conditional grants of $1 million for projects involving an R&D collaboration between two companies or cooperation between a company and a university/research institution – one from the United States and one from Israel.

BIRD Energy is welcoming innovation in all areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency, such as solar and wind power, advanced vehicle technologies and alternative fuels, smart grid, storage, and water-energy nexus – which also includes marine energy.

The deadline for providing executive summaries for the call has been set for July 9, 2018, while the full proposals must be submitted by August 21, 2018.

The decisions on the projects that applied for the grant will be made in October 2018, according to BIRD Energy.

Created as a result of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and designed as the energy arm of the 40-year-old BIRD Foundation, BIRD Energy has stimulated, promoted, and supported joint industrial R&D that benefits both the United States and Israel.

According to BIRD Energy, since its inception in 2009 the program has approved 42 projects with a total investment of about $30 million, attracting more than $200 million in venture capital and other follow-on funding to commercialize clean energy technologies.