Alabama Power is seeking proposals to meet future energy and reliability needs, including proposals for potential renewable energy projects.
The company today issued two requests for proposals (RFPs). One is for a broad range of possible generation projects to meet future capacity and reliability needs. A second request is for renewable energy resources.
“We’re always looking for the best ways to meet the needs of our customers while providing the reliable service they expect and deserve,” said John Kelley, Alabama Power’s director of Forecasting and Resource Planning. “With generation technologies evolving and energy prices always changing, we want to see what the market may have to offer.”
For the capacity RFP, Alabama Power will consider projects that can supply between 100 and 1,200 megawatts of electricity. A megawatt is enough to serve about 250 typical Alabama homes. Under the capacity proposal, Alabama Power will consider purchasing existing or newly constructed generating units or electricity purchased via long-term contracts. Projects must be dispatchable and available to meet Alabama Power’s future summer and winter capacity needs.
For the renewable resources RFP, a variety of projects will be considered, including solar, wind, geothermal, tidal or ocean current, low-impact hydro and biomass, among others. Projects involving gas derived from sewage treatment processes, solid municipal waste or landfills, and heat and power projects also will be considered. The proposals can be energy-purchase contracts with terms of 10 or 25 years or turnkey projects. The submitted projects must be at least five megawatts but no larger than 80 megawatts. The projects must be located in Alabama and connect to the company’s electric system. Alabama Power would receive all the environmental attributes from the projects.
All proposals for the renewables RFP must meet the criteria of the Green-e energy National Standard for Renewable Electricity Products, Gold Standard, the Climate Registry, or similar certifications approved by the company.
The company also plans to reach out to large commercial customers and industrial customers to gauge their interest in participating in renewable energy projects. A formal solicitation to customers is scheduled for late fall.
Bids for the renewables RFP must be received by 6 p.m. CDT on Oct. 26, 2018. Bids for the firm capacity RFP must be received by 5 p.m. CST on Nov. 9, 2018. Any projects resulting from either RFP would have to be approved by the state Public Service Commission.
For more information about the renewable RFP, please visit https://www.alabamapower.com/our-company/the-environment/renewables/rfp.html For details about the firm capacity RFP, please visit https://www.alabamapower.com/our-company/how-we-operate/capacity-rfp.html.
Learn more about Alabama Power at www.alabamapower.com.
