USDA REAP Grants: Amounts, Cost Share and Technical Requirements

REAP grant limits, 7 CFR 4280.115
Cost share	Grant funds will not exceed 25 percent of eligible project costs.
Minimum request	$2,500 for a renewable energy system (RES); $1,500 for an energy efficiency improvement (EEI).
Maximum request	$500,000 for a RES project; $250,000 for an EEI project.
Annual ceiling	Grant assistance to one person or entity will not exceed $750,000 per Federal fiscal year.
With a guaranteed loan	Combined grant and guaranteed loan may not exceed 75 percent of eligible project costs, with the grant portion capped at 25 percent. The minimum guaranteed loan request is $5,000 (7 CFR 4280.137).

Each of those figures applies “unless otherwise specified in a Federal Register notice” — the rule builds in the Agency’s ability to change them for a funding round.

Application windows change every year. Each of these programmes sets its amounts, deadlines and priority points through an annual notice — a Federal Register notice, a Notice of Solicitation of Applications, or a notification posted on the programme website. Confirm the current window with USDA Rural Development or your State office before relying on any date.

Who is eligible

Agricultural producers — entities directly engaged in producing agricultural products, deriving 50 percent or more of gross income from those operations.
Rural small businesses — a small business located in a rural area, or able to demonstrate the proposed project is located in a rural area. Size is tested against the SBA size standards at 13 CFR part 121.

Eligible projects fall into two families: renewable energy systems (solar, wind, anaerobic digesters and biogas, geothermal, hydropower, biomass and hydrogen among them) and energy efficiency improvements to an existing operation.

Technical reports, audits and feasibility studies

REAP is a technically scored programme, and the technical documentation is where applications most often fall down.

Technical report. Required for the technologies the rule names — including hydrogen, ocean energy, geothermal electric generation, anaerobic digesters and biogas, biomass, hybrid applications, renewable systems with storage, and energy efficiency improvements — following the formats in the appendices to the subpart.
Energy audit or assessment. For an EEI project with total project costs of $200,000 or more, an energy audit is required. Below that, an energy assessment is permitted (7 CFR 4280.166).
Feasibility study. The Agency may require one for a renewable energy project, based on scope, on a new facility with significant impacts, or where the technical report does not sufficiently document financial, technical or market feasibility.

Applications are scored on environmental benefits, energy generated, replaced or saved, commitment of funds, whether the applicant is a previous grantee or borrower, whether the business already exists, simple payback, the size of the request, and State Director and Administrator priority points.

Scope of practice. Wert-Berater, Inc. does not arrange, broker or place debt or equity capital, does not write applications on an applicant’s behalf as a packager, and is not paid on whether an award is made. The firm prepares the independent feasibility, market and business-plan analysis that grant programmes require, for a fixed fee.

Where independent analysis helps

Two failure modes recur. The first is a payback calculation that assumes savings the equipment cannot deliver at the site’s actual load profile. The second is a revenue projection for a renewable system — particularly a digester or a biomass facility — that assumes feedstock supply and offtake pricing without contracts or comparable evidence. Both are analysis problems, and both are what an independent feasibility study is for.

Last reviewed September 2026. Figures are quoted from the current text of 7 CFR part 4280 subpart B.

Frequently asked questions

How much is a REAP grant?

Up to 25 percent of eligible project costs, with a maximum request of $500,000 for a renewable energy system and $250,000 for an energy efficiency improvement, and no more than $750,000 of grant assistance to one person or entity in a Federal fiscal year.

Can a REAP grant be combined with a loan?

Yes. Combined grant and guaranteed loan funding may not exceed 75 percent of eligible project costs, and the grant portion is still capped at 25 percent.

Do I need an energy audit?

For an energy efficiency project with total project costs of $200,000 or more, yes. Below that threshold an energy assessment is permitted instead.

Is a feasibility study required for REAP?

Not automatically. The Agency may require one for a renewable energy project where the scope, the novelty of the facility, or gaps in the technical report leave financial, technical or market feasibility unresolved.

REAP project that needs independent numbers?

Feasibility and market analysis for renewable energy and efficiency projects. Fixed fee quoted in one business day.

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