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Home My WebLink AboutRecommended Bidder Report Southold Solar PV Project212,803,,B8~,8 8663798026, i ffo@brigh~pawer,con~ I1 Hanowr Square 21st Floor New York, NY 10005 Recommended Bidder Report Southold Solar PV Project Prepared for: Town of Southold Prepared By: Henry Misas Bright Power, Inc. 11 Hanover Square, 21~t FI New York, NY 10005 212.803.5888, x2009 June 20, 2012 £ecommenc/ed B/dc/er £eport bj/ Bright Power for the Town of ~Cout/~o/d Disclaimer This report contains analysis and projections that are based on the best information we have available, however this report comes with no warranties, expressed or implied. Bright Power Inc. shall not be held liable for any losses incurred in association with the use of this report, including but not limited to lost profits due to actions or investments made based upon the contents herein. 6155 Cox Lane, Cutchogue, NY 2 £ecommenc/ed B/dc/er £eport /~j/ Bright Power for the Town of ~Cout/~o/d 1. Executive Summary This report provides an overview of the competitive bid process conducted for the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) project located at the Southold municipal landfill. In June 2012, Bright Power delivered a technical, economic, and regulatory feasibility study that recommended a solar PV system to be installed in the landfill. After conversations with local and national solar developers, Bright Power determined that there was a high level of interest from bidders to respond to a fast-track Request for Proposal (RFP) process. On June 8th 2012, an RFP was released for a land lease agreement between the Town and the selected bidder to design, construct and operate a large-scale solar PV project. Bids were received by June 17th, 2012. The following bidders responded to the RFP: Borrego Solar East End Renewables Sun Edison Jordan Energy Brightfields After reviewing all bids and analyzing their quality and lease payment amount, Bright Power recommends that the Town select Sun Edison to lease the landfill land for solar development. As a global developer of 630 solar PV projects, Sun Edison is highly qualified for performing the installation while mitigating the risks to the landfill cap. They are able to engage with LIPA and present a complete application to interconnect into their grid under the Feed-in Tariff program. Finally, they are experienced in the DEC approval process for landfill post-closure modification and have successfully constructed systems on landfills. 8155 Cox Lane, Cutchogue, NY 3 £ecommenc/ed B/dc/er £eport /:)j/ Bright Power for the Town of ~Cout/~o/d 2. Bid Analysis The criteria Bright Power used for selecting a recommended bidder were included in the bid specification document presented to the bidders, and listed below: a. The annual land lease payment amount b. The selected Contractor must abide by all requirements set forth in the specification c. The qualifications of the bidder in developing landfill-sited solar projects d. The plan set forth by the contractor to minimize risk of damage to the Town's landfill cap or any other facilities of the Town e. The plan set forth by Contractor to minimize regulatory and legal risks associated with the PV system installation at the landfill f. Comprehensiveness of the bid submission package g. Commitment and readiness to adhere to the accelerated schedule to complete and submit a SGSGIP application and Feed-in Tariff application to LIPA tn order to evaluate these criteria, Bright Power read and annotated all the proposals, and then followed up individually with bidders to ask for clarifications. Bidders were also asked to provide their "best and final" lease payment amount. A Rubric matrix was created in order to rank bid quality, as seen in Table 1. Each of the criterion~ on the matrix was given a subjective grade ranging from 0 to 5 based on Bright Power's assessment of the bid's strength in that area. Individual annotations for all bids are provided in Appendix A: Full Rubric Matrix Analysis. To allow a levelized analysis of the proposals, Bright Power requested that all bidders complete a Bid Response Form that includes the proposed system nameplate information and cost breakdown, as well as the lease payment amount and lease contract start date. The final response forms are provided in Appendix B: Bid Response Forms. The bid speciation criteria were modified {or the purposes of evaluation through a Rubric matrix. 4 fFecommenc/ed B/dc/er Report bj/ Br/ght Power for the Town of ~Cout/~o/c/ Table 1. Rubric Matrix of Bids Criterion Borre§o East End Renewables Sun Edison Jordan Ener§¥ Bri§htfields Lease payment $ :[33,750 $ :[40,000 $ :[50,000 $ :[50,500 $ 95,000 Amount Financing s 3 S 4 5 In-house financing Assured financing partner Landfill Track Record 5 4 5 3 4 Environmental permitting Number of landfill 12_.r. ojects succesfully ~_l..eted ~ Plan to mitigate risk of damage to landfill cap s 3 5 4 5 Description of construction methods Plan to staff a civil engineer for pr__oject Solar PV Track Record 4 3 5 3 4 N~mbe[ of Ero~ct~hE~ h~ be~? ~cessf~!~y d~!c)_p~d~ c)wn~d ~Ed ~perated LIPA Interconnection Process 3 5 4 3 3 Previous experience interconnecting large-scale projects with LIPA grid Knowledge of SGSGIP and Feed in Tariff _ Technical Soundness s 3 5 3 4 Technical Documentation Arra~3(out Project Management Quality and Structure s 4 5 3 4 Organizational checks and balances Plan to hire local labor Total 32 25 34 23 29 £ecommenc/ed B/dc/er £eport /:)? Bright Power for the Town of ~Cout/~o/d 3. Bidder Selection The bids were evaluated according to the criteria presented at the beginning of this report. Highlights of the evaluation process are presented below. a. The annual land lease payment amount Bidders presented an "all inclusive payment" in their proposals, which includes the lease payment amount and any taxes assessed by the town. These payments will be flat throughout the 20 year duration of the lease agreement. Bidders put in an initial offer, and Bright Power requested all bidders to provide a "best and final" lease payment amount. Sun Edison and Jordan Energy presented the highest lease payments at $150,000/yr and $150,500/yr respectively. b. The selected Contractor must abide by all requirements set forth in the specification The bidders generally followed the instructions and requirements of the bid specification, including submitting a full proposal by 11:5c~ pm on June 17th, 2012. Given the short timeframe of the bid, some bidders presented a light proposal that did not include key technical information on the proposed system. For instance, Jordan Energy did not provide an array layout. c. The qualifications of the bidder in developing landfill-sited solar projects Borrego and Sun Edison clearly communicated their design-build experience and ownership of landfill-sited solar systems. The other bidders had previous landfill experience, but were not directly the owners and operators of the projects. Brightfields did demonstrate extensive landfill experience because they are currently developing the most landfill solar projects and are also direct owners of several land{ills. d. The plan set forth by the contractor to minimize risk of damage to the Town's landfill cap or any other facilities of the Town Borrego and Sun Edison demonstrated knowledge of the regulatory process and the impact studies that will be necessary to complete the process. Given their experience developing landfill-sited projects in Massachusetts, where DEC requires a landfill engineer to be on site at all times, they factored into their proposal the need to hire a civil engineer for this purpose. e. The plan set forth by Contractor to minimize regulatory and legal risks associated with the PV system installation at the landfill Sun Edison presented a full project schedule indicating all the necessary regulatory milestones during the development stage. Additionally, as one of the largest solar developers in the United States, their assurance that the town will not face legal problems with the landfill is backed by higher operational resources than their competitors and a large portfolio of large-scale, operational solar system. £ecommenc/ed B/dc/er £eport /~j/ Bright Power for the Town of ~Cout/~o/d Comprehensiveness o{the bid submission package Bright Power extensively analyzed the proposal's technical in{ormation, company management structure, and previous work re{erences. Borrego provided a very detailed proposal, including land{ill-specific construction methods that have been honed {rom their previous experience developing land{ill-sited projects. They also provided the project management structure, including the name and biography o{ the site superintendent that would be stationed locally during construction. Sun Edison presented a detailed project schedule in a Gantt chart, including all the regulatory permitting required. We also evaluated technical competence and site-knowledge through the materials submitted. East End Renewables selected RBI Solar as their installation contractor because o{ their experience building landfill-sited systems. However, their array layout displayed a lack o{ consideration o{ the land{ill terrain as the system was placed on the northern, more complicated section as opposed to the southern Iow-grade section. Overall, while the East End Renewables management structure seemed well prepared to tackle such a project, their proposal lacked many o{ the details that made their competitors stand apart. g. Commitment and readiness to adhere to the accelerated schedule to complete and submit SGSGIP application and Feed-in Tariff application to LIPA Bright Power evaluated the understanding o{ the bidders in the process set {orth by LIPA in their SGSGIP. East End Renewables, by having a developer that worked on the 32 MW Long Island Solar Farm, seemed poised to engage with LIPA in order to success{ully interconnect the Southold Project. Sun Edison presented a proposal that demonstrated knowledge o{ the process, by stressing the timeline o{ the interconnection process: they kept the project under 2 MW in order to enter the project in the {aster CESIR process as opposed to the longer Study Process necessary i{ the system is larger than 2 MW. Finally, Borrego did not exhibit a thorough understanding o{ the interconnection process, as they presented objections related to the non- negotiable terms o{ the LIPA PPA and also were not in-tune with the di{{erent LIPA project size categories and associated time{tames. 4. Conclusion The bidder that best meets the criteria set {orth {or the Southold Land{ill Solar Project is Sun Edison. They proposed one o{ the highest: lease payment coupled with a high quality technical proposal. They have an impressive overall track record in Solar PV systems as well as experience constructing land{ill-sited PV systems. Bright Power is confident the recommended bidder can meet the deadlines and regulatory requirements set {orth in the RFP and that the project will provide the Town with significant long-term passive income. 2 Another bidder, Jordan Energy, proposed a slightly higher lease payment but presented a weaker technical proposal. f~ecommenc/ed B/dc/er Report bj/ Br/ght Power for the Town of ~Cout/~o/c/ Appendix A: Full Rubric Matrix Analysis Criterion IBorrego East End Renewables Sun Edison Lease payment , $ 133,7s0 , $ 140,000 $ 150,000 Established partnerships with large Financing In-House 5 Various financing relationships 3 financing agents 2 completed, others in construction and 2 completed, management team Landfill Track Record development 5 1 completed by EPC 4 experience Plan to mitigate risk of damage Presented landfill-specific construction Will source local landfill engineers and to landfill cap methods, theywill hire KLMA 5 Proposal light on details. 3 staff a project civil engineer Solar PV Track Record ,loso projects nationally 4 Newly started company 3 630 PV systems constructed globally LIPA Interconnection Process ,No significant experience .3 Developer of Long Island Solar Farm 5 Other FiT projects in development Layout was not optimal (only north Technical Soundness Optimal use of terrain 5 terrain used) 3 Optimal use of terrain Project Management Quality In house EPCteam, local electrical and Experience developing local large In house EPCteam, local electrical and Structure construction labor 5 scale project 4 and construction labor Criterion Jordan Ene r_~y Bri.~.htfields _ Lease payment $ 1so, soo $ 95,000 Financing VCAP Financial 4 Clean Focus 5 17 solar projects developed, Landfil~ Track Record Management Team Experience 3 7 landfills owned or operated 4 Plan to mitigate risk of damage Will hire AMEC for environmental work, to landfill cap Will hire TRC for environmental work 4 have extensive landfill operation experience 5 Solar PV Track Record Newly started company 3 40 MW total ground mount projects 4 LiPA Interconnection Process No significant experience 3 No significant experience 3 Technical Soundness No layout provided 3 No outstanding advantage 4 Project Management Quality and Structure No outstanding advantage 4 No outstanding advantage 4 £ecommenc/ed B/dc/er £eport /3), Bright Power for the Town of ~Cout/~o/d Appendix B: Bid Response Forms 9 £ecommencJed B/dc/er £eport /:)j/ Bright Power for the Town of ~Cout/so/c/ Henr;,, ~.s a fetlew up te oor submission last night and our discussions today, Monday, June 18th Borrege Solar SFstems is pleased to mai(e a revised lease offer to Bright Power end the Town el SoutheI~. Replace Item #7, page 9 from the former proposal submitted on 6/17 2912 with the following clauses: 7, LAND LEASE CONTRACT Berrege Solar is pleased to offer the following payment option: $50,000 S133,750 S 2,675,000 1. Per the RFP, the lease payment does not escalate, and it includes all present and future real and personal properr~ tax payments All ot~er terms a~d cordilleras a~d designs remak~ ~ke same, &long with this more a~ractive lease rate, please consider Borrego's qualifications, completed lanrJill projects, and demonstrated approach to successfLdty designing, constructing and operating a solar system on a landfill Thank you! Dsvi¢ M Sugrue Senior Projed Developer Borrego Solar Systems, [nc 23g Sea Pice Drive Egg Harbor Township, HJ 08234 Phone; 716-341-2824 Fax: ~888~, 843-6778 10 £ecommenc/ed B/dc/er £eport /~j/ Bright Power for the Town of ~Cout/~o/d 11 £ecommencYed B/dc/er £eport /3j/ Bright Power for the Town of Sout/~o/d 12 £ecommenc/ed B/dc/er £eport /~? Bright Power for the Town of Southo/d L 7M%~ 13 £ecommenc/ed B/dc/er £eport bj/ Bright Power for the Town of ~Cout/?o/d 14