Repowering Assistance Program

Repowering Assistance Program. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture.

USDA is announcing the funding for its Repowering Assistance Program. It provides reimbursement payments to help offset the costs associated with converting existing fossil fuel systems to renewable biomass fuel systems. Rural Development Administrator Lilian Salerno.

SALERNO: Those bio-refineries in existence on our before June 18, 2008 are eligible for payments to replace fossil fuels used to produce heat or power with renewable biomass. These include anaerobic digesters, processed steam, biomass boilers or combined heat and power technologies.

Salerno explains who qualifies for USDA's bioenergy funding and how much has been awarded over time.

SALERNO: There's no minimum or maximum payment that an individual producer can receive. The amount depends on the number of eligible producers participating in the program and the amount of advanced biofuels being produced and the amount of funds available. More than 290 producers in 47 states and territories have received $211-million dollars in payments since the Advanced Biofuel payment program began and it has supported the production of more than 30billion gallons of advanced biofuel and the equivalent of more than 36-billion kilowatt hours of electric energy.

Payments are made for eligible post-application costs incurred during the construction phase of the repowering project.

That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.