US utility issues tender for 1 GW of PV

• Virginia-based utility Dominion intends to obtain 16 GW of solar, 2.7 GW of storage space and also 5.1 GW of overseas wind in the following 15 years. Starting these brand-new strategies comes an ask for propositions of 1 GW of solar or wind as well as 250 MW of power storage space.

Rule Energy Virginia has actually launched its biggest single-year solicitation for renewable resource projects, requiring proposals of as much as 1,000 MW of solar and also onshore wind generation as well as approximately 250 MW of power storage space.

The solicitation comes as a part of the firm's brand-new, similarly enthusiastic, Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), one which aims to release 24 GW of brand-new overseas wind, solar and also power storage space throughout the following 15 years. Of those 24 GW, 16 GW are readied to originate from solar projects, while 2.7 GW have actually been booked for power storage space capability growth. The anticipated release of 16 GW in the following 15 years is a soaring objective for a utility operating in a state that has actually mounted 893 MW of solar to day, according to SEIA.

The IRP's continuing to be ability will certainly be placed in the direction of creating what the utility proclaims as the biggest overseas wind release in North America. The record additionally lays out a clear choice in the direction of four-hour period lithium-ion battery power storage space, yet additionally consists of that the utility will certainly take into consideration extra different storage space quotes.

Renewables initially

Solar, wind as well as storage space are, especially, the only generation sources provided for growth under the brand-new IRP, with the complete ability of each targeted to be in service by 2035. While Dominion shares that the IRP thinks that each of the business's 4 nuclear systems will certainly be relicensed which natural-gas terminated generation will certainly play a vital duty in the business's power system for "years ahead," the strategy showcases no development of these sources. Moreover, gas is warranted as being a, invariable source called for as a result of existing storage space constraints.

It's since it's comparable to the language made use of by Duke Energy to validate enhancing its all-natural gas ability virtually 50% by 2030 if this language seems acquainted. The primary distinction is while Duke is making use of storage space's present constraints to warrant gas development as well as financial investment in zero-emitting load-following sources that are not yet extensively readily available/don' t exist, Dominion is going after storage space as a trustworthy innovation, despite having its restrictions.

It likewise aids that the recently-signed Virginia Clean Economy Act needs Virginia's biggest power business to create or obtain greater than 3,100 MW of power storage space capability.

In the short-term

When it comes to the 1,000 MW of solar as well as onshore wind as well as the 250 MW of power storage space consisted of in Dominion's latest ask for propositions, any type of interested developer has up until May 18 to send Notices of Intent to Bid and also Confidentiality Agreements, with last possession acquisition as well as power acquisition propositions due September 1, 2020 and also March 1, 2021, specifically.

All projects have to go to the very least 5 MWac in dimension, situated in Virginia as well as readily functional by the end of 2023 to be thought about. Storage space quotes can come as centers attached to recommended solar/wind projects, or as stand-alone centers.