Mt. Vernon Outland Airport has issued a Request For Proposal to solar developers, seeking a capital free solar deployment to serve the Airport’s largest electricity accounts. The RFP requests proposals from qualified companies capable of designing, engineering, installing, financing and maintaining solar PV systems at the airport. The goal of the solar deployment is to offset 80% to 90% of the kWh presently consumed by the airport’s largest three Ameren IL electric accounts. Mt. Vernon based, Affordable Gas + Electric, is administering the RFP process on behalf of the Airport.
“The pool of available solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) available from the State of Illinois is evaporating quickly. Our goal is to put the Airport in a position to secure SRECs, thereby making solar an attractive economic option to reduce our overall operating expenses” said Chris Collins, Executive Director of Mt. Vernon Airport. “Our goal is to leverage the available credits into long-term operational savings, without capital outlay on behalf of the Airport.”
Responses are due by February 28, 2020. Last week, a conference call was hosted for interested parties who intend to submit proposals. Eleven companies were on the call. Site visits will be hosted on February 12th to provide additional insight prior to submission of proposals. AGE wrote and distributed the RFP to a base of local, regional and in some cases national solar developers, including those developers who may have expertise in airport solar developments. Post conference calls and sight visits, AGE will be compiling the results of the RFP responses and providing Executive Summary and Recommendations to the Airport.
Jeff Haarmann, Managing Partner of AGE, said “These types of projects can be very complex and developers all have their agendas. Our role is to normalize the proposal process while allowing for those companies who have specialties in specific areas to enhance those benefits. We will roll the raw data into a simplified summary and work with Chris on to ultimate solutions that make the most sense. As Chris stated, the goal is to take advantage of the incentives available and deploy a solution that will provide long-term operational benefits.”
AGE recently administered and managed a similar process for the City of Carbondale. Carbondale approved a $2.4 million dollar project with zero capital outlay from the City. City of Carbondale is expected to see savings of nearly $1.4 million dollars over the 25-year life of their solar system.
For more information about the Mt. Vernon Airport’s RFP, please contact Jeff Haarmann at (618) 204-0115. .