Stage 3 Maui RFP Questions & Answers

A project proposing to a point of interconnection with an available MW capacity of 20 MW cannot have a contract capacity more than 20 MW as the company needs the flexibility from its procurements to export the full contract capacity from all procurements, to support reliability, adequacy of supply and resilience. For a paired generation with energy storage project, the storage must be a minimum of four times the net nameplate capacity. Additional storage may be offered for increased duration, but the Company will not allow the installation of additional generating capacity to increase the contract capacity beyond the identified point of interconnection’s available MW capacity.

Pursuant to PUC Order 38479, the Company will make the offered transmission lines and transmission substations identified in Section 2.3.7 of the RFP recommendations for interconnection. But the Company will allow Proposers to propose interconnection to other 69 kV transmission lines and 69 kV substations as long as Proposers include the cost of transmission network upgrades into the Proposal as the Commission states. Proposers should be aware, however, that there will be less upfront information available for 69 kV transmission lines and 69 kV substations not offered in the RFP. Also, estimated costs available in Appendix H are customized for the offered transmission lines and substations, and might not capture all the cost estimates necessary for other transmission lines and substations. In addition, the timeliness to requests for information outside of the offered lines and substations will likely require more time to gather and the level of detail available will be less, posing increased risk of uncertainty for those choosing to interconnect to other non-offered locations.

Yes, it is acceptable to involve a third party to manage the community benefits fund, as stated in Section 4.4.2 of the Oahu and Maui Stage 3 RFPs.

Hawaiian Electric will provide information on available transmission line capacity on Maui or Oahu upon request and if such information is available. At this time, injection capacity information for the Stage 3 Oahu and Maui RFPs is not yet available. Injection capacity information will be available when the final Stage 3 Oahu and Maui RFPs are issued and will be publicly filed in Docket No. 2017-0352. If your team is interested in specific points of interconnection on Company-owned lines or substations, please provide the proposed point of interconnection and proposed project size (in MW). When providing the proposed point of interconnection, please provide a specific location (i.e., address, TMK number, etc.) in addition to a map of the parcel identifying the proposed point of interconnection. Once identified, the RFP team will review these proposed points of interconnection and notify you if there is enough capacity to host the proposed project.

Please note that the final version of the RFP will govern the scope and requirements sought in this RFP and will be issued after the PUC approves the Company's proposed final RFPs. The Company's response will be provided in the interest of time and therefore will only reflect the Company's current understanding. Accordingly, the response may not reflect the scope and requirements of the final RFP. It is incumbent upon Proposers to follow up with any additional questions if they believe differences in the final RFP may change the nature of their original question or the Company's response.

The RFP Appendix B Proposer’s Response Package Section 2.11.2 instructs Proposers to “provide all project single line and three line diagram(s) with the Proposal submission.” Single line diagrams are required with each Proposal response package. However, the Company will allow delaying the submission of its three line diagrams until after Final Award Group selection, but must be submitted within 30 days after notification to the Final Award Group.

As a renewable energy project recently had its Power Purchase Agreement officially terminated, 20 MW of available capacity is now available on the Lahaina #2 Mauka - Napili 69kV transmission line. This information is not reflected in the Injection Study Report.

The single point of failure for this RFP is 20 MW, as per Section 1.2.11 and Section 4.2, Item #11 of the RFP. The 30 MW noted in Appendix B, Section 2.0 - Proposal Summary Tables, Item #15 is incorrect.

The updated Appendix B (the only update being the single point of failure change to 20 MW) has been uploaded into Power Advocate and also to the Stage 3 Maui RFP Documents webpage.

Hawaiian Electric will offer early engineering. If Proposers elect to engage in early engineering, a written commitment will be required at the time of final award group selection and upfront payment for early engineering work will be required. As early engineering will be done in conjunction with the IRS, all early engineering work will be done at the developers risk. Early engineering will commence with a preliminary Facility Study to identify scope of work, assumptions and responsibilities (separate and prior to the final IRS Facility Study). Early engineering will also include Company review of engineering design, and other project support, associated with the Company Owed Interconnection Facilities.

Yes, Appendix B, Attachment 3 applies to all projects, including firm.

Yes, please see the questions and answers raised during the Waena Site visit.

The N-1 contingency planning criteria requirement, made available to potential bidders as part of the December 22, 2022 Injection Study, specifically requires the potential loss of MW from a generation facility at 100% capacity during an N-1 system contingency condition to be no higher than the maximum single contingency (20 MW). A line currently having more than the SPOF limit (20 MW) that could be exported under an N-1 contingency has the potential to cause excessive underfrequency load shedding (i.e., outages) should greater than 20 MW of generation be lost. Proposers are still allowed to proceed with a project interconnecting to a line in this condition; however, system upgrades such as adding a transmission line(s) as well as the potential for reconductoring would be required to increase the capacity at the location.

The planning requirement ensures that the full capacity of the facility can be available to serve customer demand under normal and single contingency conditions, without excessive reliability risk (excessive underfrequency load-shed beyond single contingency). The Companies preparation of the Stage 3 RFP (with IGP guidance) now identifies the transmission upgrades and additions to avoid projects being connected where reliability constraints limit the ability to safely and reliably take the full capacity.

The Company would like to refer potential bidders to Section 2.2.1 where it says “Proposers seeking to propose Projects with system upgrades must seek feedback from the Company prior to bid submittal, as there may be reliability limitations on certain facilities that do not allow capacity increases.”

Additionally, the Company would like to note that potential bidders should not rely on information from previous RFPs when developing their proposal. Technical and administrative requirements may be different for each procurement.

Reserve fuel cannot be a fossil fuel. The language sited in Section 1.2.3, 4th paragraph, 1st bullet, is in reference to Section 1.2.3, 1st paragraph, where “Renewable Energy” is defined under Hawaii Renewable Portfolio Standards (“RPS”) law and permitted energy sources are defined.

From HRS § 269-91:

By statute, “Renewable Energy” means energy generated or produced using the following sources: (1) wind; (2) the sun; (3) falling water; (4) biogas, including landfill and sewage-based digester gas; (5) geothermal; (6) ocean water, currents, and waves, including ocean thermal energy conversion; (7) biomass, including biomass crops, agricultural and animal residues and wastes, and municipal solid waste and other solid waste; (8) biofuels; and (9) hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources.

Renewable fuels and biofuels used for Stage 3 Maui RFP Projects must be 100% renewable fuel and therefore cannot be a blend.

Per Section 2.2.1 of the RFP regarding Projects being proposed with project sizes greater than the potential available MW capacities, “Proposers seeking to propose Projects with system upgrades must seek feedback from the Company prior to bid submittal, as there may be reliability limitations on certain facilities that do not allow capacity increases.”

Per Section 2.2.2 of the RFP regarding Projects electing to interconnect to non-offered 69 kV transmission lines or 69 kV substations, “Proposers proposing Projects to non-offered locations should submit a proposed interconnection location, project size, and other available project details.”

To summarize, based on the referenced sections above, Proposers should submit their system upgrades for Company review, via mauirenewablerfp@hawaiianelectric.com, for projects: 1) at locations with 0MW available capacity, and 2) that are proposing more capacity than the available capacity identified at the proposed interconnection location.

Note that Section 2.2.4 of the RFP states, “a detailed IRS, when performed, may reveal other adverse system impacts that may further limit a Project’s contract capacity or require interconnection upgrades.”

The highlighted Note under Section 2.1.C of Appendix H should state, “Please contact Company for more information on if Item 34a is required for a proposed GCP.”

1. Please refer to the Final Order of Condemnation describing Easements 3 and 4, including a letter agreement attached as that contains further information (description of Easement 4 is on pages 7-8 of the pdf, description of Easement 3 is on page 10 of the pdf). Neither description states the easements to be exclusive or non-exclusive, however, we are also not aware of any other party that has asserted rights to these easements.
2. See the Final Order of Condemnation and response to question 1 above.
3. To the extent that an easement is necessary for a proposer’s project, Hawaiian Electric does have an easement template that can be provided at such time as it is determined to be required.

Proposers should submit their staffing plan in their bid proposal. The highlighted portion of Section 10 of Attachment Y to the Stage 3 Maui Firm PPA is subject to negotiation. However, note that location of staff (onsite vs. offsite) depends on the type of facility and what type of resources are required to operate it. The intent is to have 24/7 capability to manage operations – which may or may not require 24/7 onsite personnel.

Regarding the August 17th Proposal Due Date, the Company is moving forward as scheduled with the RFP. Proposals are still due on August 17, 2023 at 2:00pm HST.

In the event there is a change to the RFP, including any changes to the schedule, a notification will be sent out via: 1) Company email list, 2) direct messages to bidders registered in Power Advocate, and 3) on the Stage 3 Maui RFP webpage.