Obama Administration Awards $2.3 Billion in Tax Credits to Clean Energy Manufacturers

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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Obama administration last week announced that it was awarding $2.3 billion in federal tax credits to stimulate clean-energy production. A total of 183 manufacturing facilities in 43 states will receive investment tax credits under section 48C of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The administration estimates that the tax credits themselves will lead to the creation of more than 17,000 jobs in advanced energy manufacturing facilities. The tax credits will be matched by as much as $5.4 billion in private-sector investments, which will likely support up to 41,000 additional jobs.

Awards were announced on January 8 and were made to manufacturers engaged in the following energy-related manufacturing businesses:

• solar, wind, geothermal, and other renewable energy equipment
• electric grids and energy storage for renewable energy
• fuel cells and microturbines
• energy-storage systems for electric or hybrid vehicles
• carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS) equipment
• equipment for refining or blending renewable fuels
• equipment for energy conservation, including lighting and smart grid technologies
• plug-in electric vehicles or their components, such as electric motors, generators, and power-control units

Awards ranged from $75,000 to $154.8 million. Projects receiving awards must be commissioned by February 17, 2013. Because awards were based in part on a project's ability to generate jobs quickly, projects completed on or after February 17, 2009 (the date that President Obama signed the ARRA into law), were eligible for awards.

The largest tax credits included the following:

• REC Silicon, a unit of Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (OSL:REC) (Sandvika, Norway), received $154.8 million in tax credits
• Volkswagen Group of America Chattanooga Operations LLC, a unit of Volkswagen AG (OTC:VLKAY) (Wolfsburg, Germany), received $150 million in tax credits
• Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation (Hemlock, Michigan) received $141.9 million in tax credits
• Wacker Polysilicon North America LLC, a unit of Wacker Chemie AG (ETR:WCH) (Munich, Germany), received $128.5 million in tax credits
• United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) (East Hartford, Connecticut) received $110.4 million in tax credits

Click on the image at right to view a complete list of stimulus award winners.

In all, more than 500 applications seeking more than $8 billion in tax credits were received. The Obama administration has called on Congress to provide an additional $5 billion in tax credits so that the Section 48C program can be expanded.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.