NPPD seeks new wind farm power purchase agreement

COLUMBUS -- Nebraska Public Power District issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) today for Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) for 80-megawatt wind projects that would be constructed by the end of 2010, continuing NPPD's efforts to achieve the District's goal of having 10% of its energy portfolio come from new renewable resources by the end of 2020.

The RFP is similar to the one released in July 2007, except that specific locations have been designated - one near Broken Bow and another near Petersburg. "Based on evaluations done by NPPD in 2007, both Broken Bow and Petersburg areas have low transmission interconnection costs," said Dave Rich, Renewable Energy Development manager for NPPD.

Rich explained that developers would be able to utilize land that they already control or land that NPPD currently has under land options agreements for its current wind studies.

"We believe these two areas (Broken Bow and Petersburg) will give NPPD and its customers the lowest cost options for adding more wind to NPPD's generation portfolio," Rich added.

NPPD's RFP process has a goal to receive proposals that will have the lowest cost through the Power Purchase Agreement over a 20-year period and meet all technical specifications outlined.

The 2007 RFP process resulted in two PPA's with Community-Based Energy Development (C-BED) group. One was for the Elkhorn Ridge Wind Farm, an 80-megawatt facility north of Bloomfield that is scheduled to be on-line by the end of this year. The other is the 42-megawatt Crofton Hills Wind Farm, located south of Crofton, expected to be operational in 2009.

In February, the NPPD Board of Directors revised its strategic plan related to renewable energy.

The goal now is to "evaluate all forms of renewable resources feasible in Nebraska and incorporate them in the total mix of NPPD-owned generation and contract purchases with a goal of achieving 10 percent of its energy supply for NPPD's customers from renewable resources by 2020."

The entire RFP, in an electronic version, is available to interested developers or individuals by contacting Brent Hofferber, NPPD procurement specialist, via e-mail at blhoffe@nppd.com.

The deadline for submitting a proposal to NPPD has been set for April 15, 2009 at 5 p.m. (CDT). It is expected that a decision on a successful PPA will be announced in the fall of 2009 and that the facilities would be operational before Dec. 1, 2010.