Power Purchase Agreement RFI

Solicitation Number: W912DY-18-T-PPA1 Notice Type: Request for Information Response Date: 01 June 2018 Special Notice Synopsis: This is a Request for Information (RFI). This RFI shall not be construed as a Request for Proposal (RFP), a lease solicitation, or any obligation on the part of the Government. The Government does not intend to select or qualify proposals or offers on the basis of this RFI or otherwise pay for information obtained via this RFI or in response to this notice. No basis for claim against the Government shall arise as a result of a response to this RFI. The Government is performing market research to determine feasibility of contracting for various energy generation technologies for the purpose of providing resilience to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL), specifically to McGuire loads (illustrated in Appendix A). The Government is specifically interested in determining the viability of procuring reliable, locally-generated, electricity from a Contractor-constructed, owned, operated, and maintained energy generation facility via a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) 10 USC - 2922a contract. The energy generation facility would provide continuously available, non-interruptible primary power to McGuire and provide capability for islanding McGuire substations in the event of a utility grid outage. The energy generation system shall be designed and optimized to meet the Government's respective requirements under two (2) operating conditions: Normal Operation and Grid Outage Operation. - Normal Operation is defined as periods where McGuire is able to draw electricity from the utility grid. o In Normal Operation, the energy generation system would provide McGuire with up to 16,114,000-25,782,400 kWh per year of primary power at a PPA rate (in $/kWh). - Grid Outage Operation is defined as periods where McGuire is operating independently from the utility grid in an electrically islanded mode. o In Grid Outage Operation, the energy generation system will provide McGuire with primary power and islanding capability for 5-11 MW of critical substation load with the capability to isolate from the utility grid. The Government's interest is to increase electrical power availability to mission functions during periods of grid failure. Evaluation during the RFP phase will be based on 1) total cost as measured by the offerors' levelized cost of energy as USD$/MWhr to include consumption, avoided peak demand charges, market participation benefits, etc., as compared against other offerors' solutions and against existing grid parity 2) evaluation of the technical reasonableness and sufficiency of the solution, and 3) evaluation of the offerors' ability to complete, maintain and operate the project based on prior performance and demonstrated capability. Interested entities should address all questions in the questionnaire below and demonstrate ability to execute the Government's following notional requirements. Government Notional Requirements: General Requirements (including requirements in Normal Operation) 1. The Contractor shall develop, finance, design, build, own, operate and maintain an off-site energy generation facility. The Contractor shall be responsible for providing all labor, material and capital to deliver energy from the proposed generation facility to the substations located at McGuire (see map in Appendix A). This will consist of all operation and maintenance, including upgrading and replacement of equipment required to ensure reliable deliveries of energy for the duration of the contract. 2. The Air Force will not subsidize the development, construction, or operation of any improvements (the Air Force would agree to purchase the energy) and does not warrant the availability of off-take agreements or contracts for the generated energy, except for the load provided via PPA listed in this RFI. 3. The electrical supply from any offsite generation assets shall feed the installation directly via a dedicated line, independent of the commercial grid. 4. JB MDL will not provide any Government property for the generation facility. It is anticipated that off-site generation will occur at a one or more locations adjacent to JB MDL. However, if the configuration includes assets that require minimal (<1 acre) land use such as for a battery or standby generator, JB MDL will provide easements for installation of all those components on Government property near the substations. JB MDL will also provide easements for interconnection to the installation's distribution systems. 5. The Government will purchase up to 16,114,000-25,782,400 kWh of electricity from the proposed energy generation facility, per Production Year. 6. The Contractor's proposed system must be able to deliver electric power to the Government at a total delivered cost between tiny_mce_marker.05 and tiny_mce_marker.15 per kWh. 7. During periods of Normal Operation, the Contractor may use generation and other resilience assets as revenue-generating, grid-facing resources for power generation beyond the agreed upon amount provided to the installation, as long as all other Government Notional Requirements listed herein are met. The Contractor shall meet any AF cyber security regulatory requirements regarding risk management framework (RMF), interconnection, and separation for assets used in Normal and Grid Outage operations. 8. The PPA Term shall be the minimal period necessary to support the financing of the Project or other development considerations, but in no event shall the PPA Term exceed 25 years including construction. 9. Should the Contractor propose net-metering as part of this project, the Contractor shall be responsible for arranging all net metering agreements. 10. Should the Contractor propose solar PV as part of the configuration, the contractor will retain ownership of any Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), tax advantages (Investment Tax Credit and/or Production Tax Credit), and/or any other environmental attributes, and may sell them to a third party. 11. Should the Contractor proposed fossil fuel based generation, they must: a. Have adequate fuel supply for continuous operation for no less than seven (7) days and a resourcing plan acceptable to the AF demonstrating the offeror's ability and commitment to provide fuel indefinitely. b. Obtain/maintain their own air quality permit for any fuel based generation assets. 12. The Contractor (at its sole expense) shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with: a. All applicable Federal and State environmental laws and regulations. b. Force Protection and Anti-Terrorism requirements of JB MDL. c. Department of Defense (DoD), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and other applicable cybersecurity standards. 13. The proposed generation asset shall meet all power quality standards as required by Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection (PJM) Regional Transmission Organization and outlined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) including power factor, voltage (level, range, and balance) harmonic distortion, and frequency. The Contractor shall ensure that operation of the generation asset does not create upset conditions on the existing parallel McGuire grid. 14. The Government shall be responsible for conducting any required studies on the effect the solar array will have on air traffic on and around JB MDL in accordance with DoD and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) policy and guidance. 15. The Contractor shall adhere to any additional applicable terms and conditions resulting from this and other market research. Energy Resilience Requirements 16. The proposed configuration must be designed to meet historical 15-minute interval load (shown in Appendix B) with a 15% safety factor during Grid Outage Operation. Potential resilience scenarios to be covered by this project include: a. Resilience to Substation 2 load (~5 MW peak load). b. Resilience to Substation 2 and 3 loads (~11 MW peak load). 17. In Grid Outage Operation, the proposed configuration must be designed to sustain load for a minimum of seven (7) continuous days in Grid Outage Operation. 18. In Normal Grid Operation, the proposed generation facility shall provide four nines (99.99%) of availability (no more than 52.56 minutes total outage per year), with no more than (3) unscheduled outages per year. No outage during grid failure shall exceed 30 minutes, and Contractor shall ensure that all equipment, controls, and personnel are available to meet this requirement. 19. The proposed generation and resilience assets, switching, and controls should follow guidance outlined in IEEE standard 1547.4 to safely and effectively island loads. AF seeks to employ a modular open architecture as it develops this and future energy resilience projects, including microgrid(s). 20. Proposed configuration should include automated and/or manual switching to island identified loads, generation, and storage into a microgrid for Grid Outage Operation. 21. The Contractor must be able to regularly demonstrate system readiness to island McGuire substations described above in the event of a utility grid outage through periodic (annual and/or monthly) testing. Sources Sought Questions: 1. What is the name and brief description to include type of entity, (i.e., partnership, corporation, etc.), of the public or private organization or business potentially interested in developing energy generation as stated above for JB MDL? 2. What is the business address and web site address? 3. Who are the point of contacts, including name, position, telephone number, and email address, for the submitted information? 4. What is your current and relevant experience, or comparable commercial experience, in developing, constructing, and operating energy generation and resilience assets? 5. If you believe that the Government's notional requirements are not feasible or cost effective, please explain. An explanation should include both the perceived problems with the notional requirements and proposed substitute requirements. 6. What would be your proposed remedy to ensure Contractor performance in the event of a breach of contract requirements, specifically those listed in terms of Normal Operation (i.e. the Contractor fails to provide the minimum amount of power specified in a given Contract Year). 7. What is the proposed technology configuration to achieve the Government Notional Requirements? Include all generation and resilience technologies, potential capacity (in MW), islanding capability, interconnection configuration, and other requirements (e.g. water, fuel). a. Why are you suggesting that specific technology and plan? b. What would be the expected annual fuel requirements and responsibilities for the proposed configuration? c. What is the notional project development timeline to reach operation? d. How much land will is required for the proposed concept (both on McGuire and on an off-base parcel)? i. Per Government Notional Requirements #3, please indicate whether the concept would require land on-base via easement (not to exceed 1 acre). e. If applicable, how would this concept utilize NJ and PJM Renewable Energy Credit and/or ancillary grid services market to generate revenue? f. What testing requirements are recommended to demonstrate system readiness to island the McGuire load? g. What is the minimal period necessary to support the financing your proposed concept? 8. Identify standards you believe facilitate the objective of a modular open architecture (as specified in Requirement #16 above). 9. What alternative technology configurations or acquisition vehicles would you recommend for this concept that meet the Government Notional Requirements (for all alternatives provided, please provide similar details as requested in Question 7)? 10. Are you a small business? If so, what type? Interested entities should submit their questionnaire (sources sought) responses via email to Victor.G.Petty@usace.army.mil no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time on 01 June 2018. Microsoft Word or Adobe Systems Portable Document Format (PDF) e-mail attachments not exceeding ten (8.5 inches x 11 inches) pages (five pages if printed two-sided) and 10 Megabyte total are acceptable. Facsimile submissions will not be accepted. Cover letters and extraneous materials (brochures, pamphlets, etc.) will not be considered. The Government will analyze all of the submitted information and determine among other things: the probability of realizing the Government's notional requirements; the suitability of the available parcel for the Government's proposed use; and the most appropriate acquisition strategy. Interested parties should submit any additional questions or clarifications to Victor.G.Petty@usace.army.mil as part of or with their questionnaire response. Please do not contact other Air Force staff with questions regarding this RFI. We appreciate your interest and thank you in advance for responding to this Request for Information. Primary Point of Contact: Victor Petty, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Victor.G.Petty@usace.army.mil. Be advised that no extensions to this deadline will be granted.