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ERCOT Issues RFP For Must-Run Alternatives
ERCOT issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking one or more Must-Run Alternatives (MRA) to a Reliability Must-Run (RMR) contract with CPS Energy to address projected reliability needs associated with the proposed suspension of operations for the generating units BRAUNIG_VHB1, BRAUNIG_VHB2, and BRAUNIG_VHB3 (Braunig Resources).
The Braunig MRA RFP may be viewed on ERCOT’s ER RFP page located of ER here.
The MRA RFP seeks proposals from Qualified Scheduling Entities (QSE) to provide one or more MRA Resources that would address the identified ERCOT System performance deficiencies in a more cost-effective way than committing one or more of the Braunig Resources through an RMR contract.
Under the RFP, QSEs may offer MRA Resources for any one or more seasons during the period of April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2027. The RFP identifies different hours in which an offered MRA Resource must be available each season.
Resources eligible to be considered as an MRA Resource include various types of generation, storage, and demand response (DR) as further described in the RFP and the Governing Document posted on the RFP page of ERCOT website (link above).
Offers will be evaluated based on the offered price and the ability of the offered MRA Resource to reduce pre-contingency and post-contingency loading on the 345-kV transmission lines that are subject to the South Texas Export Interconnection Reliability Operating Limits (IROLs) during certain specified outage conditions.
Offers are due 3:00 p.m. Central Prevailing Time (CPT) on September 9, 2024.
ERCOT will host a workshop on August 15, 2024, to discuss the RFP and respond to questions.
ERCOT anticipates providing an amended RFP on August 21, 2024 that will provide further clarification of the required performance characteristics, such as a maximum amount of megawatt hours (MWh) or a maximum duration per deployment for storage or DR MRA Resources.
CPS Energy indicates that the standby cost for the Braunig Resources are as follows:
- BRAUNIG_VHB1: $3,330 per hour for one year, $2,263 per hour for two years;
- BRAUNIG_VHB2: $3,222 per hour for one year, $2,203 per hour for two years; and
- BRAUNIG_VHB3: $4,171 per hour for one year, $2,904 per hour for two years.
