There were several climate friendly provisions in the Covid-19 relief bill that Congress
passed in December, 2020, including extending tax credits for solar and wind power projects and plenty of research and development (R&D) funding.
The 2020 spending bill extends the solar ITC at its current level of 26% for two additional years, through the end of 2022, before decreasing to 22% in 2023 and disappearing for residential properties in 2024. The spending bill maintains the 10% ITC for solar on commercial & industrial properties after it sunsets for residential properties.
Offshore wind power got a boost, according to WindPower. On the R&D side, Greentech Media (GTM) reports:
The bill contains about $35 billion in funding over the next five years across Energy Department programs, through a collection of programs…Solar power will get $1.5 billion for programs to improve solar PV energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness, boost solar panel manufacturing and recycling, and better integrate solar power into the grid. Wind power will get $625 million to fund materials and design research, manufacturing and deployment efficiency improvements, and technologies to integrate wind power at the transmission grid and distribution grid scale. Geothermal energy research will get $850 million, and hydropower and marine power will get $933 million.
Along with these RD&D funds, the act will direct the Interior Department to set a target of at least 25 gigawatts of solar, wind and geothermal production on public lands by 2025, according to the summary.
Energy storage will receive $1.08 billion over five years in funding for the research and commercialization of a range of technologies needed to integrate intermittent renewables into the grid.