New agreement reached between UND’s EERC and Department of Energy

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KVRR) — A cooperative agreement has been reached between UND’s Energy & Environment Research Center and the Department of Energy.

It will deliver $25 million over five years to support the center’s research projects, including the Crack the Code 2.0 initiative.

The agreement supports EERC’s efforts across a wide range of cutting-edge research projects, like the work it’s conducting regarding enhanced oil recovery in the Bakken in North Dakota.

“This $25 million, five-year agreement is a welcome support for the important work the EERC is doing to ensure our state remains a global energy powerhouse for years to come. I appreciate Secretary Wright and Under Secretary Haustveit for working with us to not only get a new agreement in place, but to provide short-term extensions of the prior agreement while these negotiations were ongoing,” said Sen. John Hoeven.

“With phase one of Crack the Code 2.0 fully funded following this month’s $36 million award, this cooperative agreement provides a necessary supplement to support EERC, including as the organization looks ahead to the future phases of our initiative to both double oil recovery in the Bakken and double the life of our coal-fired power plants.”

The EERC cooperative agreement has been in place since 1983, when the organization was de-federalized and spun off from the department of energy.