It seeks to sign 10-15-year contracts for projects eligible for renewable energy credits or renewable energy projects of 20-200MW.
The RfP is limited to "newly developed renewable energy resources" – suggesting solar PV, wind, small hydro, fuel cells and some biomass and waste-to-energy combustion generation, according to law firm Pierce Atwood. The firm added that projects do not have to be located in Rhode Island, but must "provide substantial direct economic benefits to Rhode Island, such as job creation or property tax revenues".
Proposals must be submitted by 29 October. National Grid expects to conditionally select bidders for negotiation on 2 May 2019, and submit contracts for approval by the state’s public utilities commission by 30 August.
The procurement builds on governor Gina Raimondo’s plans to include 1GW of clean energy in the state’s portfolio.
Rhode Island is home to the US’ s only offshore wind project, the 30MW Block Island site, and also awarded its developer, Deepwater Wind, 400MW capacity in a tender in May.
