PacifiCorp's 2020 all-resource request for proposals attracted an eye-popping 40,500 MW of renewable resources and storage capacity from across the West, which the utility has now whittled down to a final shortlist of nearly 3,250 MW, PacifiCorp said in a June 15 filing with the Oregon PUC [UM 2059].
The solicitation was designed to meet a resource need consistent with the preferred portfolio from the company's 2019 integrated resource plan, which showed that renewable resources and battery storage eligible for federal tax incentives would be lower cost than other resource alternatives.
The final shortlist includes of 1,792 MW of new wind capacity, with 590 MW as build-transfer agreements and 1,202 MW as power purchase agreements.
The shortlist also includes 1,453 MW of solar capacity PPAs, as well as 735 MW of battery storage capacity split into 535 MW of storage paired with solar bids and 200 MW of standalone storage.
The 2020 RFP was the largest resource solicitation in the utility's history and one of the largest calls for renewables in the industry. The request was seeking 1,823 MW of solar, 595 MW of battery storage and 1,920 MW of wind that can be operational by the end of 2024, as called for in the utility's 2019 IRP.
PacifiCorp said the call for renewables "elicited a robust market response that produced over 28,000 MW of conforming bids with an additional 12,500 MW of bids that did not conform with minimum requirements set forth in the 2020AS RFP," according to a filing with OPUC.
Wind projects in Wyoming and solar projects in Utah dominated the final cut, as the utility's 2019 IRP modeling suggested.
Wyoming is home to 1,641 MW of the 1,792 MW of shortlisted wind capacity, with another 151 MW located in Idaho.
Utah is home to 1,243 MW of the solar bids on the list, which includes 682 MW of installed battery capacity, plus one 200 MW standalone battery.
The final shortlist also includes some resources in Oregon—210 MW of solar including 52.5 MW of installed battery capacity, which represents the largest investment to date in Oregon's solar market, the utility said.
PacifiCorp's Gateway South project—a 400-mile, 500 kV transmission line that runs from eastern Wyoming to central Utah permitted over the previous decade—gives the utility access to low-cost renewables in Wyoming and Utah, the utility said.
Rick Link, VP of resource planning and acquisitions at PacifiCorp, said the results of the 2020 RFP "deliver the best new resources the West has to offer and will enable our customers and communities across the West to benefit from low-cost clean energy to grow their economies and run their businesses and homes."
"The battery resources complement the addition of more renewable energy by providing the flexibility needed to smooth imbalances between supply and demand," Link said. "We are excited to add significant storage resources to our system. This type of flexibility is increasingly critical to maintaining reliable service and we anticipate there will be a growing need for a broad range of storage technologies into the future."
The utility said in the OPUC filing that 35 bids totaling 12,500 MW (6,500 MW of resources and 6,000 MW of battery storage) were deemed nonconforming. Of that total, 2,700 MW of resource
and 2,100 MW of battery storage were disqualified due to missing the transition interconnection cluster study cut-off date of Jan. 31, 2021.
In October, PacifiCorp completed its initial shortlist evaluation and scoring of the bids, and after review by the independent evaluator, notified the initial shortlist bidders of the selection results.
The initial shortlist included 2,974 MW of solar or solar with storage (1,130 MW of battery storage), 2,479 MW of wind, and 200 MW of standalone battery capacity.
The commission is scheduled to hold a workshop on the RFP July 8.
