Hawaiian Electric issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for non-wires alternatives to provide reliability (back-tie) services to defer planned distribution capacity upgrades on the island of Oahu. The IGP Soft Launch RFP was designed as a fully integrated planning and procurement process to evaluate and source solutions for the East Kapolei Area Distribution System, which required capacity upgrades to serve expected load growth.
The RFP solicited technology-agnostic solutions from providers that could be implemented behind the meter and/or in front of the meter. Providers were permitted to develop multiple solution proposals or combinations of proposals to satisfy the identified distribution needs. The procurement process evaluated collective identified system needs and coordinated solutions to produce an optimized portfolio contributing to reliable and affordable grid operations with desired levels of system and distribution resilience.
Specific reliability service requirements were identified across multiple equipment deferral opportunities: Kapolei 4 Circuit Extension (3.5 MW peak, requiring 6-hour duration service from 5 PM-11 PM daily starting February 2022); Hoopili Substation equipment upgrades requiring varying capacity ranges from 1.0 MW to 9.7 MW peak with operational dates beginning January 2023 through May 2023, with delivery hours ranging from early morning (6 AM-8 AM, 9 AM-12 AM) and evening (5 PM-11 PM, 11 AM-12 AM) periods.
Key dates included: RFP issued November 8, 2019; pre-recorded webinar conference available November 18, 2019; working group meeting held June 19, 2019; proposal submission deadline January 7, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time via PowerAdvocate platform. However, on February 13, 2020, Hawaiian Electric announced the decision not to proceed with the RFP due to insufficient response meeting the specified performance and operational requirements.