Five US-Israeli clean tech projects chosen to receive $7.5 million in grants
Governments of Israel and US to channel cash through BIRD foundation, with projects expected to raise a further $8.5 million from private sources
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
BIRD Energy, which works to promote cooperation between Israeli and American companies, announced Tuesday that the Energy Ministry, Israel Innovation Authority and US Department of Energy will invest $7.5 million in five joint projects for firms from both countries in the fields of clean energy.
Around $16 million will be invested in total, with the projects leveraging the grants to raise a further $8.5 million from private sources, according to the Israeli Energy Ministry.
The Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation focuses on sustainable energy technologies, with the aim of developing and commercializing clean energy systems, improving economic competitiveness, creating jobs and strengthening energy security.
Each grant project involves collaboration between a US and an Israeli company, or a company and a university. Selected projects are judged to have a high probability of commercial success, the statement said.
Projects must raise at least 50 percent of their costs and commit to repaying the grant in the event of commercial success. While the foundation shares in the risks, it does not receive any rights in the partnering companies nor require compensation if the project fails to reach the sales stage.
The five approved projects are:
- The development of a system combining hydrogen and diesel to improve the efficiency of ship engines by Israel’s Lucy Borchard Shipping from Israel and American Newlight Marine Technologies of the US.
- The development of the next generation of green ammonia by Israeli Nitrofix and the American company ENERGY 1S1.
- The development of an efficient heat pump for residential buildings by Israeli company OASIX Energy and the American company EN-POWER Group.
- The development of emergency generators based on aluminum-air technology by Phinergy from Israel and the New York Electric Power Company (NYPA) will develop emergency generators based on aluminum-air technology.
- The collaboration on chemical recycling of PVC Israel’s Plasticback and the American company Freepoint Eco-Systems.
