1. What constitutes an eligible project for a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)?
2. Does my project qualify for appropriated credit subsidy?
3. What are the various fees and when are they due?
4. Do I have to pay additional fees?
5. How many application rounds are there?
6. When are the application deadlines?
7. When is the Part II of an application due?
8. Will there be any oral presentation part of the application?
9. Is there an advantage to completing your application early?
10. What if I have submitted my application via FedConnect, but I need to make substantive changes or additions?
11. Is it possible to submit multiple applications?
12. What is the process for evaluating a Part I application?
13. How will applicants be notified if DOE decides to proceed with a project?
14. How long will DOE take to evaluate Part II of an application?

An eligible project for purposes of this solicitation is one that is located in the United States that employs a New or Significantly Improved Technology that is not a Commercial Technology, and that meets all applicable requirements of section 1703 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

[There are two types of projects-manufacturing projects and stand-alone projects. Energy Efficient Industrial Manufacturing, Battery manufacturing facilities, solar panel manufacturing facilities, and plug-in hybrid manufacturing and assembly facilities are examples of manufacturing projects. Tidal Energy, Advanced Hydropower and Offshore Wind projects illustrate the range of stand-alone projects.]

To be eligible for payment of credit subsidy from funds appropriated for Section 1705 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the "Recovery Act"), a project must commence construction on or before September 30, 2011. The Borrower of the project must have received all necessary licenses, permits and local and national environmental clearances necessary to proceed; have completed all pre-construction design and prototype testing; have engaged all required contractors and ordered all necessary essential equipment and supplies so that physical construction of such project has commenced or may commence on or before September 30, 2011. For projects that are seeking appropriated credit subsidy under the Recovery Act, eligible projects include certain renewable energy systems, electric power transmission systems and leading edge biofuels projects that commence construction no later than September 30, 2011. Please see Section II.E of the solicitation for additional information on the requirements for 1705 eligible projects.

Application Fee: A portion (25%) of the application fee must be submitted with the application at the time of the Part I submission. The remainder (75%) of the application fee must be submitted with the application at the time of the Part II submission. This fee recovers costs associated with DOE's administrative costs incurred in connection with the pre-selection evaluation of an application. Fees [(including the Facility Fee and maintenance Fee described below)]will not be waived and are non-refundable.

Facility Fee: The facility fee (or Second Fee) is due as follows: (i) 20% of the Facility Fee is due upon the execution by the applicant of the Term Sheet approved by the CRB and (ii) 80% of the facility fee is due upon the closing date of the Loan Guarantee Agreement.

Maintenance Fee: The maintenance fee (or Third Fee) is payable to cover DOE's administrative expenses in servicing and monitoring the Loan Guarantee Agreement during the construction, startup, commissioning and operational phases of a project. The amount of such fee is expected to be in the range of $50,000 to $100,000 per year and shall be either (i) payable each year in advance, commencing upon the closing date of the Loan Guarantee Agreement, in the amount specified in the Loan Guarantee Agreement, or (ii) if provided for in the Loan Guarantee Agreement, payable as an one-time fee at the closing in a lump sum amount equal to the aggregate sum of such annual fees specified in the Loan Guarantee Agreement for the entire term of the loan guarantee, discounted to net present value.

Applicants are advised that the applicant shall be responsible for paying the fees and expenses of DOE's independent consultants and outside legal counsel in connection with applicant's project under all circumstances. The application fees submitted by the applicant will cover only internal DOE costs associated with these reviews.

Subject to the availability of loan guarantee authority, there will be seven (7) rounds of reviews for Parts I and II submissions. All Part II submissions filed with DOE during any such round of review shall be competitively evaluated against all other such filings submitted during that round, subject to DOE's right to defer, in its sole discretion, consideration of an application submitted in such round to a subsequent round of review because the application is incomplete.

The table below presents the submission dates for each round:

Part II information may be filed at any time (subject to the Part II submission due dates set forth above) after DOE's notification to the applicant that its Part I submission is complete and that the project has been determined to be an Eligible Project and, if applicable, a 1705 Eligible Project under this Solicitation. Accordingly, Part II submissions may be filed no later than 11:59pm Eastern Time ("ET") on any of the due dates set for rounds of Part II submissions but in no event later than 11:59pm ET on December 31, 2010, the due date for the final round of Part II submissions.

DOE may require that each written submission be followed with an oral presentation by the applicant (e.g., by teleconference or face-to-face meeting) to discuss and clarify the submission and agree on next steps. Moreover, DOE may request additional information to clarify information submitted by applicants. Such requests by DOE for additional information, documentation, or briefings do not signify that a project has been approved for any further diligence or for a loan guarantee.

In order to encourage submissions of substantially complete applications as early as possible after the date of this Solicitation, Part I and Part II submissions will be systematically reviewed on a continuous basis as soon as they are received. Applicants applying in earlier rounds of reviews will enjoy a first mover's advantage in terms of priority of review.

Applications should only be submitted when all required elements are complete. However, if an applicant needs to make changes before the deadline has passed, they must clearly identify and date the new version of the submission in its file name and upload it through the FedConnect website.

A Project Sponsor may only submit one application pursuant to this solicitation for one project employing a particular technology. In other words, consistent with Section 609.3(a) of the Final Regulations, a Project Sponsor may not submit applications for multiple projects using the same technology. However, a Project Sponsor may submit a separate application for each different technology it wishes to submit to DOE for consideration.

Part I submissions will be preliminarily reviewed based on the mandatory factors outlined below:

• The project must employ New or Significantly Improved Technologies, as compared to Commercial Technologies in service in the U.S. at the time the Term Sheet is issued (as such capitalized terms are defined in Section 609.2 of the Final Regulations).
• The project must, at a minimum, employ in the United States at the time the Term Sheet is issued a New or Significantly Improved Technology that avoids, reduces or sequesters anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases or air pollutants.
• Solely with respect to projects for which applicants seek to qualify as a 1705 Eligible Project, the applicant shall have provided evidence sufficient to demonstrate that application for all permits, licenses and approvals necessary to enable the project to commence construction by September 30, 2011 have been, or will timely be, submitted to appropriate federal, state and local authorities.
• The project site is identified.

DOE will notify in writing applicants with responsive Part I submissions for projects employing a technology deemed to constitute a New or Significantly Improved Technology of its intention to proceed with further evaluation.

DOE shall endeavor, but is not required, to review the Part II submissions filed during a given round and make a recommendation for or against selection for due diligence review within two months from the closing date of such round of review. Each applicant selected for due diligence will receive written notice from DOE of its intent to proceed with due diligence and underwriting with respect to such applicant's project. At any time following the due date for any particular round of Part II submissions, DOE may approve projects for purposes of proceeding to due diligence, underwriting and negotiation.