On January 22, 2020, American Electric Power Service Corporation and Appalachian Power Company (“APCo”) released a request for proposals (the “2020 RFP”) for up to 200 MW of solar generation facilities in Virginia.  The 2020 RFP was issued to support the requirements of the Grid Transformation and Security Act (SB 966), which was passed in 2018.  APCo previously issued an RFP for solar energy resources in 2018, however that RFP did not result in any executed contracts.

The 2020 RFP seeks bids for solar projects located in Virginia and interconnected to PJM or APCo’s distribution electric system, with minimum nameplate rated size of 10 MWac. Under the 2020 RFP, APCo is seeking to purchase 100% of the equity interest in the limited liability company that owns the project.  Bidders may also include battery energy storage (no larger than 10 MW of capacity) as part of their proposals. Further, the project must qualify for the Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and have an expected commercial operation date of December 15, 2022.  Existing projects are permitted to participate in the 2020 RFP, however they must have a commercial operation date (placed-in-service) on or after July 1, 2017.

Proposals are due March 12, 2020.  

The RFP, containing additional details, can be accessed here.