Request for Proposals
The Oregon Renewable Energy Center (OREC) is pleased to announce a funding opportunity through its Renewable Energy Research and Innovation Program (RERIP). OREC is funded by the state of Oregon and hosted by Oregon Tech. OREC’s mission is to advance renewable technologies and support small and medium-sized industrial entities in Oregon by prototyping, testing, validating, and accelerating “cleantech” products and renewable energy applications.
The OREC Renewable Energy Research and Innovation Program (RERIP) seeks to fund proposals on leading edge, applied research initiatives in broad areas of renewable energy, particularly those that impact the state of Oregon. The program especially encourages and emphasizes proposals that support small and medium-sized industrial collaborators in Oregon in research and development and in accelerating products and renewable energy applications. The proposals’ budget can range from $5,000 to $50,000. Proposals are invited on a wide range of renewable energy topics of topical interest, including but not limited to:
- Geothermal technologies
- Wind energy
- Solar technologies including photovoltaic, solar thermal
- Energy storage including long duration energy storage
- Hydrogen technologies
- Carbon capture /reduction
- Energy efficiency in electronics
- Economic, social aspects and impacts
Please note that the proposal submission deadline is April 27th, 2025, 5 p.m. PST. For further details on the RERIP program, and this Request for Proposals, please contact Dr. Naga Korivi, Director, OREC at naga.korivi@oit.edu
Director, Oregon Renewable Energy Center (OREC)
OREC RERIP 2025 Funding
OREC promotes energy conservation and renewable energy use in Oregon and throughout the Northwest through applied research, educational programs, and practical information. Wise energy use is the foundation for a sustainable economy, good jobs, and economic prosperity.
OREC
About OREC
As a public purpose, applied research center created by the Oregon State Legislature, OREC speeds the integration and optimization of renewable energy resources with current power generation systems, and accelerates clean energy technologies in collaboration with industry partners.
Given the increasingly urgent global focus on reducing carbon and increasing energy efficiency, OREC will become even more important to Oregon in the next decade, by helping to preserve our environment as well as sustain industry competitiveness, growth and development.
Based on Oregon Tech's trusted history of advancing renewable energy solutions in Oregon for over 30 years, the Legislature authorized the Center in Oregon Statute in 2001.
Our Mission
Enhance development and promote availability of renewable energy through; Energy Systems Engineering, Applied Research, Technical Assistance and Information Dissemination, Academic Degree Programs and Industrial Training and Development.
Our Vision
Grow Oregon Renewable Energy Center into a vibrant, globally recognized preeminent center that expands the use of renewable energy and serves the needs of local, state and regional renewable energy industries and people.
OREC for the next decade:
- Approach-specific strategy. Oregon Tech is proposing to combine OREC's capabilities with Oregon Tech’s additional capabilities in manufacturing, software, embedded systems, and business to capture a market niche that is not technology-specific, nor industry-specific, but approach-specific.
- Leveraging Oregon’s unique breadth of renewable energy sources. Oregon is a unique place in the world with its access to wind, wave, hydro, geothermal coal, gas and solar energy. These natural resource advantages position OREC to be a unique center for collaboration with companies, other universities, and communities seeking expertise and lower-cost solutions as they experiment, disrupt and innovate.
- OREC will focus in five program areas, utilizing faculty expertise and shared equipment laboratories at its applied research centers or within industry partner locations:
- Energy system integration, power and controls, and grid security
- Clean Tech testing, prototyping, embedded systems designs, validation
- Manufacturability: materials, processes, robotics
- Entrepreneurship: multi-disciplinary projects and invention
- Policy analysis and support
What OREC can do:
- Developing prototypes for solar, wave and other energy devices
- Testing the manufacturability of new products
- Battery characterization and testing; expanding storage capabilities
- Optimization of hybrid vehicle control systems
- Building and testing customized components to reduce production costs
- Selecting materials, assessing strength of materials, especially composites and metals
- Manufacturing product or process improvements; manufacturing controls and robotics
- Product development and remote monitoring of solar energy systems
- Utilizing geothermal energy to accelerate food and agricultural products
- Geothermal combined with solar for boosting solar output in hybridized systems
- Training on the use of Oregon Tech’s unique geothermal resource