The USDA will issue cost-share grants of up to $5 million per project through its Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Monday. The USDA announced the grant program on Feb. 28, with details to follow. Some $86 million will be targeted toward ethanol and $14 million for biodiesel.
The application period will be announced in the future, according to a USDA notice to appear in the Federal Register on Tuesday. “Cost-share grants of up to 50 percent of total eligible project costs but not more than $5 million will be made available to assist transportation fueling and fuel distribution facilities with converting to higher blend friendly status for ethanol (i.e., greater than 10 percent ethanol) and biodiesel (greater than 5 percent biodiesel) by sharing the costs related to the installation, and/or retrofitting, and/or otherwise upgrading of dispenser/pumps, related equipment, and infrastructure,” says the notice.
“U.S. ethanol producers today are facing the worst economic conditions in the industry’s 40-year history due to COVID-19 and they need immediate emergency relief to survive this catastrophe,” said Geoff Cooper, chief executive of the Renewable Fuels Association. “Once the pandemic is over and fuel markets are showing signs of recovery, expanding infrastructure via the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program will be important to the long-term future of the ethanol industry and rural America.”
By one estimate, there are roughly 111,000 gas stations in the country. Higher-blend pumps were installed at more than 2,000 retail locations during an earlier USDA grant program, says Growth Energy, a biofuel trade group.