Last update date 23 August 2024
The Clean Energy Demonstration Program on Current and Former Mine Land (CEML) will demonstrate the technical and economic viability of deploying clean energy on current (operating) and former (abandoned or inactive) mine land in the United States. These projects are expected to be replicable, providing knowledge and experience that catalyze the next generation of clean energy on mine land projects.
Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, CEML received a combined $500 million to demonstrate innovative mine land conversion to clean energy projects with a goal of replication across the country.
Eligible clean energy technologies under this program include solar, microgrids, geothermal, direct air capture, fossil-fueled electricity generation with carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration, energy storage, and advanced nuclear technologies.
This program requires up to five clean energy projects be carried out in diverse geographical regions, at least two of which must be solar. These demonstration projects are expected to be replicable, providing knowledge and experience that catalyze the next generation of clean energy on mine land projects.
These demonstration projects will provide models for mine land development and community engagement that can be used by the private sector to unlock the potential of mine land for siting clean energy. The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED)’s projects will prioritize job creation, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and economic benefit for host communities.