PRE-RFP: San Vicente Energy Storage RFP to be advertised next month
The San Vicente Energy Storage Facility RFP will be advertised starting next month, according to the San Diego County Water Authority. This will allow bidders time to prepare proposals for submission in November.
The joint RFP is being issued by the San Diego County Water Authority, and the City of San Diego, California, and is seeking a private sector partner for the 500 MW pumped energy storage project.
According to Gary Bousquet, the director of engineering at San Diego County Water Authority, the project is a proposed closed-loop pumped storage facility and is “essential to California achieving its renewable and clean energy goals established by Senate Bill 100.”
Recognizing the need for large-scale storage, Bousquet explained, the California FY22/23 budget includes USD 18 million “to advance the development of this facility.”
The winning developer for the project will support the environmental review process and perform preliminary engineering, as well as conduct geotechnical site investigations and develop the FERC license application. The developer will also prepare an “economic pro forma model” which is to be used in determining the cost of the project and used to evaluate incorporating the project into the energy rate structure.
After that, the City of San Diego and the Water Authority will consider authorizing the final project.
According to the San Diego Water Authority, this RFP for a full-service team will be advertised next month. Then, following approval from the Water Authority’s board in January of 2022, the joint governing authorities will enter negotiations.
“If negotiations are successful, the Water Authority’s board and the San Diego City Council would consider approval of the project development agreement in mid-2022,” Bousquet said.
Then it will take four years to complete the environmental review process, preliminary engineering, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licensing process.
Construction is expected to begin in 2026, with commercial operation starting in 2030.
The market for pumped storage hydro projects in California is booming with Eagle Crest Energy and NextEra in the midst of developing a 1,300 MW Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage project slated to go operational in 2024. This is among 12 projects, either operational or pre-operational, with capacity of 200MW or higher, according to NPM data.
San Diego also thought it had a deal in place earlier for a project of its own after it negotiated a term sheet with Brookfield Renewables following a 2017 issuance of an RFP. However, the term sheet expired at the end of 2020.
“A project development agreement was not negotiated at that time due to the lack of funding,” he wrote.
In a July 2021 press release from the San Diego Water Authority, the San Vicente project was described as “one of the most promising pumped energy storage solutions” seen in California.
“(The project) would be a major asset to help avoid rolling blackouts through on-demand energy production while helping to meet state climate goals,” the release said.
For more information about this report or if you are interested in a demo or to see whether you qualify for a FREE trial of NPM, click the “Learn More” button below.