A subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP), the Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) has launched a request for proposals (RFP) round to procure up to 2.8 GW of wind energy and 1.35 GW of solar resources.
For solar energy, interested companies may include a battery energy storage system (BESS), no larger than 40% of the nameplate solar energy resource and for 4 or 8 hours of capacity, as an option. The projects needs to come online by December 15, 2024 or December 15, 2025.
To be considered, solar power projects must interconnect to the Southwest Power pool (SPP) RTO. Facilities located within Oklahoma will be preferred and those in Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Kansas or Missouri will be considered. Minimum acceptable project size is 50 MW.
PSO specifies that it will prefer both solar and wind energy projects located within its service territory or interconnected to its transmission system. These will be acquired via multiple purchase and sale agreements (PSA) for 100% equity interest in the selected project companies. It is seeking solar power projects that qualify for the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC).
PSO had previously issued a draft RFP for these tenders in September 2021 (see PSO To Seek Proposals For 1.35 GW Solar).
It now specifies January 13, 2022 as the last date to submit RFPs, stating August 15, 2022 as the date to enter definitive agreements with the winners.
Headquartered in Oklahoma, PSO serves around 560,000 customers in 232 cities and towns through 3.77 GW owned power generation capacity, 1.109 GW of natural gas PPA capacity and has executed long-term renewable energy power purchase agreements (PPA) with wind energy sources representing a combined capacity of 1.137 GW. PSO is seeking additional solar and wind energy resources under its Integrated Resources Plan (IRP).