At this stage, groups are now ready to develop a collective RFP document in collaboration with their respective procurement teams. To simplify this process, the Renewables Accelerator has developed an RFP template that groups can tailor to their particular situation.
Aggregation groups should make sure to include the following information in their RFP:
- The group’s combined annual desired amount of renewable capacity or energy (in MW or MWh) as well as that of each individual buyer, along with the number of accounts (i.e., meters). (For physical PPA transactions, it is ideal to also provide hourly, or 8760, load profiles for each buyer. Groups with some flexibility may also choose to present a range of acceptable transaction sizes to encourage a greater range of responses and test if purchasing larger amounts of electricity provides greater economies of scale.)
- The group’s desired project characteristics, such as location, resource type, commercial operation date, co-benefits requirements, and labor considerations, etc.
- A clear indication that the selected respondent would be expected to sign a similar, yet separate, contract with each buyer.
- A description of what each buyer can customize after the template contract is developed.
- A description of the RFP evaluation process and a list of the evaluation committee members, which may include a consultant and some, or all, of the participating buyers.
- A description of hiring and employment requirements. See the Renewable Accelerator’s Labor Considerations for Clean Energy Procurement overview for more information.