LPO is marking the 2nd anniversary of launching the Monthly Application Activity Report by making some modifications of our monthly reporting sectors and providing key insights into application activity trends over the last year.
December 15, 2023
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The DOE Loan Programs Office (LPO) introduced the LPO Monthly Application Activity Report (MAAR) to help the general public understand the level of active interest from applicants in LPO financing programs, including: (1) the number of active applications, (2) the cumulative funding requested by those applications, (3) the rolling average of new applications per week, and (4) how application amounts requested break down across major clean energy and advanced transportation technology sectors.
Publishing the MAAR is one way LPO prioritizes transparency as part of its operations and application process. As a steward of taxpayer resources, LPO is committed to updating the public on its progress in meeting its mandate to accelerate the clean energy transformation. As we near the end of 2023, LPO is marking the second anniversary of launching the application activity report by making some modifications of our monthly reporting sectors and providing key insights into application activity trends over the last year.
Key Insights From the Second Year of the MAAR
APPLICATION ACTIVITY INSIGHT #1: There Has Been a Consistent Upward Trend in Applications and Cumulative Loan Amounts Requested
Throughout the last year of LPO public application activity reporting, the month-to-month trends illustrate significant growth in interest in LPO loan and loan guarantee programs since December 2022:
- The number of active applications has grown by more than 50%, with 125 as of December 31, 2022, and 189 as of November 30, 2023.
- The cumulative dollar amount of LPO financing requested by those active applications has grown even more—from $119.0 billion as of the close of December 2022 to $174.7 billion as of the end of November 2023, a 47% increase.
APPLICATION ACTIVITY INSIGHT #2: Applications Continue To Be Distributed Across Major Clean Energy and Advanced Transportation Technology Sectors
The top three sectors by cumulative dollar amount requested as of November 30, 2023, are Clean Fuels & Products, Renewables Deployment, and Virtual Power Plants. (See below for a list of the 14 LPO MAAR reporting tech sectors and types of potentially eligible areas within each. Note that this does not include all technologies that may be eligible for LPO’s loan programs. Learn more at Energy.gov/LPO/MAAR.)
- Advanced Fossil (Carbon Feedstock Waste Conversion, Fossil Infrastructure Repurposing & Reinvestment, Hybrid Generation, Hydrogen Generated From Fossil Sources, Synfuel)
- Advanced Nuclear (Advanced Nuclear Reactors, Micro Reactors, Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Nuclear Supply Chain, Nuclear Uprates & Upgrades, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs))
- Advanced Vehicles & Components (Vehicles, Components, Lightweighting, Manufacturing, Electric Vehicle (EV) Battery Manufacturing, Electrification)
- Carbon Management (Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS), Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR), Direct Air Capture (DAC), Industrial Decarbonization, CO2 Transportation Infrastructure)
- Clean Energy Supply Chain (Solar Manufacturing Supply Chain)
- Clean Fuels & Products (Advanced Biofuels, Biodiesel, Cellulosic Biofuels, Renewable Diesel, Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), Waste Conversion)
- Critical Materials (Extraction, Manufacturing, Mining, Processing, Recovery, Recycling)
- EV Charging (Deployment, Manufacturing)
- Hydrogen (Generation, Infrastructure, Transportation)
- Offshore Wind (Offshore Wind Generation, Offshore Wind Supply Chain & Vessels)
- Renewables Deployment (Geothermal, Hydrokinetics, Hydropower, Repowering Onshore Wind, Other Renewables Deployment)
- Storage (EV Bidirectional Storage, Newer Battery Chemistries & Flow Batteries, Compressed Air Energy Storage, Pumped Storage Hydropower, Thermal Energy Storage)
- Transmission (Grid Efficiency, Grid Reliability, High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Systems, Offshore Wind Transmission, Systems Sited Along Rail & Highway Routes)
- Virtual Power Plants (Connected Distributed Energy Resources (DERs))
APPLICATION ACTIVITY INSIGHT #3: LPO Continues To See Broad Geographic Distribution of Proposed Project Locations Across the United States
Applications for clean energy and advanced transportation financing are coming into LPO from across the United States to help support and build projects in every major region.
As of the end of November 2023, LPO’s 189 active applications account for 229 proposed project locations across all regions of the United States, representing potential real-world impact across the nation, including places like manufacturing facilities, generation plants, and service areas.
Learn more about how LPO works with potential borrowers to reduce risk, protect American taxpayers, and partner for success.
Jigar Shah
Former Director, Loan Programs Office
Jigar Shah served as Director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from March 2021 to January 2025. He led and directed LPO’s loan authority to support deployment of innovative clean energy, advanced transportation, and Tribal energy projects in the United States. Prior, Shah was co-founder and President at Generate Capital, where he focused on helping entrepreneurs accelerate decarbonization solutions through the use of low-cost infrastructure-as-a service financing. Prior to Generate Capital, Shah founded SunEdison, a company that pioneered “pay as you save” solar financing. After SunEdison, Shah served as the founding CEO of the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Unite to help entrepreneurs address climate change.
Shah was also featured in TIME's list of the "100 Most Influential People" in 2024.
Originally from Illinois, Shah holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois-UC and an MBA from the University of Maryland College Park.