Government support can play an important role in helping to launch burgeoning industries like renewable power and other green technologies.

Energy storage is one of the fastest growing sustainable industries. Recently, it received a big boost in the state of Maryland, which launched a new incentive program.

Last year, the state passed legislation enabling a tax incentive program for residential and commercial energy storage. In February, the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) announced that it is now accepting applications for the program, which was officially launched in January.

The MEA’s Director, Mary Beth Tung, hailed the 2018 Energy Storage Tax Credit Program as the “first in the nation.” She added that it will “serve as a model for all other 49 states.”

The program is available to eligible residential and commercial taxpayers who have installed a qualifying energy storage system on their residential or commercial property in Maryland between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2018.

The program’s eligibility guidelines are flexible. Projects can store electrical energy, mechanical energy, chemical energy including electrochemical energy, or thermal energy that was once electrical energy. Recognizing the importance of energy storage to grid stability, the program also requires all storage systems to store energy either for use as electrical energy at a later date or in a process that offsets electricity use at peak times.

The MEA may award up to $750,000 dollars in energy storage tax credits on a first come, first served basis while funding is available. Currently, a total of $225,000 dollars has been reserved for residential taxpayers, and $525,000 dollars has been reserved for commercial taxpayers.

If either of the reserved money allocations become oversubscribed, eligible applicants will be placed onto a wait list as long as resources remains in the other financial reserve.