Appalachian Power (APCo), headquartered in the United States, has announced the release of three Requests for Proposals (RfP) aimed at securing power and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from wind and solar projects, as well as from battery energy storage systems (BESS), whether co-located or standalone.
The deadline for bid submissions for all RfPs is July 16, 2024.
Request for Proposal 1 (RfP 1):
APCo is seeking to procure wind and solar projects, along with co-located or standalone BESS, totalling up to 800 MW through one or multiple purchase and sale agreements.
Minimum acceptable project sizes are as follows:
PJM Resources: A minimum of 50 MW for wind, solar, and solar projects with co-located BESS, and 10 MW for standalone BESS.
APCo Distribution Resources: A minimum of 10 MW for solar, solar projects with co-located BESS, and standalone BESS. APCo is interested in projects at various stages of development, including completed projects projected to be operational by December 15, 2028.
To be considered, projects must qualify for either the full Federal Production Tax Credit or Federal Investment Tax Credit.
Eligible projects should connect to the PJM Interconnection, Regional Transmission Organization (RTO), or the APCo distribution system within the PJM footprint, with a preference for sites in Virginia or West Virginia.
All projects must undergo a PJM System Impact Study.
Request for Proposal 2 (RfP 2):
APCo aims to purchase power and environmental attributes, including RECs, from wind and solar projects totalling up to 300 MW through one or multiple power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Minimum project sizes for this RfP are 5 MW for solar projects and 50 MW for wind projects.
APCo seeks renewable energy products from cost-effective projects delivering energy to the PJM Interconnection or the APCo system via PPAs, encompassing energy, capacity, environmental attributes (including RECs), and ancillary services (if available).
Projects should be operational by December 31, 2028, with PPAs lasting either 20 or 30 years, although alternative term proposals are welcome.
Proposals may include an option for APCo to purchase the project at fair market value upon the PPA’s expiration.
All projects must be situated within the PJM Interconnection.
Request for Proposal 3 (RfP 3):
APCo is seeking proposals for the acquisition of unbundled Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) sourced from renewable resources.
These RECs must adhere to the Virginia Renewable Portfolio Standard and be validated by a certificate number within PJM’s Generation Attribute Tracking System (PJM-GATS).
Proposals should span a minimum of five years but no longer than thirty years, commencing from January 1, 2027, with room for alternative proposal options.
Eligible renewable resources comprise:
- Solar or wind projects within the PJM region.
- Non-utility-owned falling water resources, producing less than 65 MW, operational after December 31, 1979, or demonstrating incremental generation surpassing 50% of the original capacity after December 31, 1979, located in the Commonwealth or PJM region.
- Waste-to-energy or landfill gas-fired resources within the Commonwealth, operational by January 1, 2020, excluding those utilizing waste heat from fossil fuel combustion or forest/woody biomass.
- Biomass-fired facilities within the Commonwealth, operational by January 1, 2020, providing no more than 10% of their annual net generation to the grid or 15% of their total useful energy to entities other than interconnected manufacturing facilities.
RECs must originate from a unit-contingent resource and be delivered to APCo by the 15th day following their generation month. Delivery of RECs must transpire through the PJM-GATS system into a designated APCo account.
