The projects will boost transmission capacity by more than 7.5 GW, accelerate interconnection for clean energy and spark over $4.2 billion in public and private investment, according to DOE.

The U.S. Department of Energy selected 38 projects for nearly $2 billion in funding from its Grid Resilience and Innovation Program, DOE said Friday.

“With these projects, we’re investing in resilience, which means we’re supporting communities before, during and after wildfires and storms and heat waves and other extreme weather across the country by hardening the grid by, for example, undergrounding power lines or adding technology that reroutes power during storms,” DOE Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Thursday during a press briefing.

The projects will boost transmission capacity by more than 7.5 GW, speed up interconnection for clean energy and spark over $4.2 billion in public and private investment, DOE said in a press release.

Under the Biden administration, DOE has sparked $36.9 billion in public-private spending on grid projects, according to Granholm.

In its initial funding rounds, including yesterday’s announcement, the $10.5 billion GRIP project has committed to $7.6 billion in funding while receiving applications for projects totaling about $50 billion, Granholm said. DOE plans to launch a third funding round next year.

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