The Department of Energy is giving prospective providers of carbon-free power at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico an extra month, until June 27, to submit proposals.
The revised deadline was included in an online notice in the federal government’s System for Award Management. The previous deadline was Wednesday May 29.
This is the second deadline extension, the original date for proposals was May 15. DOE published its request for qualifications for clean power projects at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in mid-April.
There are up to 9,000 acres of surface land at WIPP that might be suitable for development of utility-scale solar or other carbon-free electricity projects, DOE has said.
The solicitation is different from a traditional contract for goods or services at the nuclear site, DOE has said. Here, DOE’s Carlsbad Field Office in New Mexico plans to sign a realty agreement with the selected power developers.
This is part of DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy Program, which Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm announced in July 2023. The initiative is meant to further President Joe Biden’s goal to have federal installations largely carbon neutral by 2030.
WIPP is among the first five DOE nuclear sites to participate in the program.