The Iowa Power Fund Board could approve state funding for up to six renewable energy projects today, which are the first projects to make it to the full 18-member board.

The meeting at the Iowa Utilities Board Building in Des Moines is scheduled to last all day. During a 90-minute opening discussion prior to considering the projects, board Chairman Fred Hubbell recommended that any projects approved by the board today should be considered “a license to negotiate” and be reviewed by a negotiating committee prior to final approval of the board at a later meeting.

The six projects are collectively seeking $26.7 million, and are among 110 projects that have requested funding so far. A due diligence committee is currently considering another 16 projects that are seeking approximately $23 million; those projects are expected to reach the board later this year.

The $100 million Power Fund, which is expected to be funded over a four-year period, currently has $25 million to work with and is expected to receive another $25 million appropriation this legislative session.

The first six projects include a $20 million request from Poet LLC of Sioux Falls, S.D. The ethanol production company’s $200 million Project Liberty calls for converting its Emmetsburg plant to produce ethanol from cellulosic feedstocks, primarily ground-up corncobs.

The other five projects under consideration are:

• Cellencor Inc., Ames: $1.5 million for a project to reduce the energy and environmental costs of drying corn distillers grain;

• RENEW Energy Systems, Osage: $655,000 to purchase two mobile solid biomass briquette presses;

• University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls: $612,300 to determine the maximum sustainable production of biomass using prairie species;

• Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc., Shenandoah: $2,315,407 for a carbon dioxide recycling project at its Shenandoah ethanol plant;

• Iowa State University, Ames: $1,623,580 for a low-cost, photovoltaic solar energy conversion project.