The announcement comes just over a month after the Army announced the awarding to $61 million in renewable energy contracts to provide three locations with a total of 8.2 MW in capacity.
The notice, posted on the website of the Army's Energy Initiatives Task Force, states that the military service wants to procure "reliable, locally generated, renewable and alternative energy through power purchase agreements or other contractual alternatives."
The $7 billion in capacity would be expended for the purchase of energy over a period of 30 years or less from renewable energy plants that are constructed and operated by contractors using private sector financing.
The draft solicitation for the Renewable and Alternative Energy Power Production is posted on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site and will be available for comment for 30 days.
The Army emphasizes that the solicitation for comments is only a very early step in a longer process -- No awards will be made from this draft RFP.
“The final RFP, when issued, may vary from this draft,” said Tonju Butler, the procuring contracting officer with the Huntsville Center.
“Huntsville Center will use the industry feedback received to develop the final RFP,” Butler said.
Any comments regarding this draft solicitation are to be submitted by firms via the ProjNet Web site in accordance with the instructions contained in the draft RFP.
It is the intent of the government only to purchase the energy that is produced, and not to acquire any generation assets.
The contractors will finance, design, build, operate, own and maintain the energy plants. The government will contract to purchase the power for up to 30 years in accordance with the terms and conditions stipulated in site or project specific agreements resulting from task orders awarded under multiple Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contracts.
Project locations may be on or near any federal property located within the US including Alaska, Hawaii, territories, provinces or other property under the control of the US government for the duration of contract performance.
“Huntsville Center will award contracts to both large and small businesses according to four different renewable energy technologies: solar, wind, geothermal and biomass,” said Sarah Tierney, the project’s contracting specialist. “Task orders will be executed against the basic ID/IQ contracts, using fair opportunity procedures established in the Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 16.”
In a written statement the Army said the contract will support the Energy Initiatives Task Force in its efforts to plan and execute a cost-effective portfolio of large-scale renewable energy projects on Army installations by leveraging private sector financing.
It also said the initiative is geared toward supporting the US Department of Defense’s broader energy goals.
All firms have the ability to register on fedbizopps.gov to track the Army's progress on the acquisition.The solicitation number is W912DY-11-R-0036.
To pursue these opportunities, interested parties may register at the Federal Business Opportunities Web site or the Army Energy Initiatives Task Force Web site.
The $61 million in contract awards announced in late January include the installation of 4.44 MW of photovoltaic capacity at the White Sands Missile Range. with Siemens Government Technologies received $16.8 million to build the installation which is expected to generate more than 10 percent of the range's energy by te end of the year.
At Fort Bliss, Texas, Johnson Controls Inc. was awarded a $16 million project to generate about 2.2 million kWh of energy a year from a renewable source. Under the contract, the installation will purchase energy produced by 5,500 solar panels, without owning or maintaining the equipment.
Johnson Controls wasalso awarded a $34 million contract to install wind and solar photovoltaic systems, light-emitting diode, or LED, lighting, energy management control systems, and other energy conservation equipment and processes in Puerto Rico.
This contract will benefit Fort Buchanan and 11 Army Reserve Centers on the island.
On a related note, the Army this month unveiled a fleet of hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles in Hawaii in an effort to bring military service into line with the state's efforts to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.
The Army initiative comes about two years after General Motors -- the maker of the vehicles -- announced that it would build many as 25 hydrogen fueling stations throughout the state in partnership with Hawaii's Gas Co. by 2015.
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