A -- DEVELOPMENT AND FIELD VERIFICATION OF INNOVATIVE GEOTHERMAL DIRECT USE CONCEPTS

Notice Date

November 28, 2000

Contracting Office

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401-3393

ZIP Code

80401-3393

Solicitation Number

RAA-1-31402

Response Due

February 22, 2001

Point of Contact

Jim Fox, Fax No. (303) 384-7352

Description

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) anticipates issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) in December 2000 for a new project on behalf of the U.S Department of Energy in support of the Geothermal Energy Program. This project is a two-phased effort for the development of innovative geothermal direct use concepts. This project is for all direct use applications of geothermal resources including wells or springs in the approximate temperature range of 80 to 350 degrees F located in the United States utilizing a minimum thermal load of 20kWt (600 million BTU per year) except for single family home usage, generation of electricity, resort spa heating only (spa heating is acceptable if it is not the primary purpose and if done in conjunction with other uses such as potable water heating), and geothermal heat pumps (a device that uses a working fluid for heating and cooling and uses the earth or water as a sink for the thermal process). Examples of acceptable projects include district space heating and/or district cooling, heating and/or cooling of multifamily or commercial buildings, greenhouse heating, industrial process heat or hot water, and aquaculture. The project can be either a completely new project or an enhancement of an existing project. For purposes of the RFP, the "project" is limited to the geothermal delivery system only and does not include ancillary facilities. In order for the project to be considered under the RFP, the offeror must already have a drilled production well or spring. Phasing of Project: In Phase I, the selected offeror generally will do all aspects of the design of the project and provide a technical and price proposal for performance of Phase II. In Phase II, selected offerors generally will construct the facility and provide reporting on the performance of the facility for a period of two years. Price Participation Required: Price participation is defined as the offeror's cost contribution toward the total cost of the project negotiated under a firm fixed price subcontract. Selected offerors are required to provide price participation in the minimum amount of 50% of the project's cost in both phases. However, if the proposed project is an enhancement of an existing projectprice particpation must be 70% in Phase II. In addition, price participation provided by the selected offeror must be sufficient in each phase to cover the cost of all material, equipment, supplies and instrumentation proposed in that particular phase. Covering all of these types of cost items with sufficient price participation (regardless of the source of the price participation will allow giving title to the resulting facility to the selected offeror, a requirement for this project. Also, price participation by the offeor must be sufficient to cover all injection well drilling costs. Another requirement is that the selected offeror's price participation must be sufficient to limit the amount NREL will pay to $75,000 in Phase I and $1,000,000 in Phase II. Funding: It is the intent of NREL to award multiple firm fixed price subcontracts for Phases I and II under the solicitation. The anticipated period of performance for Phase I is approximately six months with total funding availability of approximately $300,000. Funds for performance of Phase II are dependent upon congressional authorization. However, NREL anticipates that funding for all projects and both phases would not exceed $5,000,000. This Commerce Business Daily announcement is not a request for proposals. Interested parties in this project are directed to the request for proposal document expected to be available on the World Wide Web at www.nrel.gov/contracts/rfps/ about December 7, 2000. A hard copy of the RFP may be requested by mail at the above address to the attention of Jim Fox, by email at jim_fox@nrel.gov, or by fax to the attention of Jim Fox at (303) 384-7352. Telephone requests will not be honored.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20001130/ASOL016.HTM (W-333 SN5075A7)