U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Announces New Action to Support Deployment of Renewable Energy on U.S. Military Installations

$7 Billion Announcement Part of DoD Goal to Increase Energy Security

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Aug. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, through its Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, has issued a Multiple-Award Task Order Contract (MATOC) Request for Proposal (RFP) for $7 billion in total contract capacity to procure reliable, locally generated, renewable and alternative energy through power purchase agreements.  The $7 billion 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.  

"One year ago I authorized the Energy Initiatives Task Force (EITF). The announcement of this acquisition vehicle by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers demonstrates EITF's progress and the Army's commitment toward installation energy security, mission readiness and resilience," said Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh. "We believe the Federal Renewable and Alternative Energy contract will provide the Army with an important means to achieve its goal of one gigawatt of renewable energy projects by 2025."

"Development of this acquisition has included significant industry and government coordination to draw from the various experiences and lessons learned throughout," said Col. Nello Tortora, former commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville. "We received and analyzed more than 900 comments from industry in response to our draft Request for Proposal, and have responded to those comments through a series of frequently asked questions."

The solicitation for the Renewable and Alternative Energy Power Production for DoD Installations is posted on the Federal Business Opportunities Website at www.fbo.gov or http://go.usa.gov/Gd6.  It will be available for 60 calendar days.  Comments can be submitted to the ProjNet Website at http://www.projnet.org/projnet in accordance with the instructions stated in the RFP Executive Summary section.

"We plan to conduct a pre-proposal conference in late August," said Tonju Butler, the procurement contracting officer in Huntsville.  "Details on the conference and how to register will be released once plans are finalized."

In late February, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, issued a request for comments on the draft RFP.  The original 900 industry comments are posted on the ProjNet Website at http://www.projnet.org/projnet.  Those comments can be accessed if a vendor registered and received a key to accessing that Website in the draft RFP.

"We have taken all the comments received from interested parties into consideration and answered them keeping in mind our regulations," Butler said.  "The frequently asked questions with answers are available on www.fbo.gov."

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 (ID)/Indefinite Quantity (IQ) contracts.  Project locations may be on any federal property located within the U.S. including Alaska, Hawaii, territories, provinces or other property under the control of the U.S. government for the duration of contract performance.

"Contracts will be awarded 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."

These contracts are one of the contract vehicles that will help support the EITF 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.  The Army's development of large scale renewable energy projects is critical to achieving installation energy security, mission effectiveness and resilience objectives while supporting the DoD's goals to enhance installation energy security and reduce installation energy costs.  Energy security and sustainability are operationally necessary, financially prudent and mission critical.

By awarding the contracts, the Army will have a streamlined process to develop large scale renewable energy projects that uses private sector financing.  This approach will help speed overall project development timelines to ensure the best value to the Army and private sector.

The Army is moving forward to address the challenge of energy security and sustainability to ensure the Army of tomorrow has the same access to energy, water, land and natural resources as the Army of today.  The DoD has the goal to produce or consume 25 percent of its total energy use from renewable sources by year 2025.   

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, executes Army programs and specialized missions worldwide that require unique technical expertise, large acquisitions and centralized program management.  Huntsville's involvement in the Army's energy program began in the early 1980s with the program management and technical oversight for the Energy Engineering Analysis Program. The Center continued to gain energy experience through the development and award of the DoD's first shared energy savings contract.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, continues to provide unique energy solutions for third party contracting, Energy Savings Performance Contracting, Demand Side Management, utility privatization, Energy Conservation Investment Program, Utility Monitoring and Control Systems, heating ventilation and air conditioning, energy assessments, and energy planning.

Huntsville's energy team has been recognized for outstanding achievements with multiple federal energy and water management awards, Vice Presidential Hammer awards and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project delivery awards.

Debra Valine
256-895-1691
[email protected] 

SOURCE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville