Demonstrations are sought of innovative technologies and approaches to improve the energy resilience on military installations to support mission critical activities.
Of particular interest are solutions that:
- Provide innovative on-base thermal energy or electric power generation that provides increased resilience through higher efficiency and/or is independent of external supplies. Technologies should be cost competitive or show a viable path to cost competitiveness with current alternatives.
- Provide a method for performing analysis of energy resilience solutions to inform design or investment decisions.
- Provide time and cost-efficient approaches to developing accurate records of existing electrical infrastructure, and its condition, for purposes of informing risk analysis, energy project development or other Master Planning activities.
- Are informed by gaps and needs identified by the Installation Energy Plans and/or Installation Resilience Plans.
- Offer innovative business models for financing resilience improvements at installations.
Proposals that include modifying or integrating with existing assets (e.g., PV array, privatized utility) that are owned or operated by non-DoD entities should include the asset owner/operator on the project team. Proposals that address only unique site-specific needs or seek to demonstrate mature microgrid technologies will not be considered responsive to the intent of this solicitation.
Successful technologies and solutions demonstrating increased energy resilience and reduced dependence on the public grid enable DoD mission continuity, protection against threats, and reduced dependency on vulnerable public grids.
As defined in 10 U.S.C. § 101(e), energy resilience is the ability to avoid, prepare for, minimize, adapt to, and recover from anticipated and unanticipated energy disruptions. Improvements to installation energy resilience can be made through a variety of approaches (broadly considered “technology”), including planning tools and processes, access to timely and accurate information, new innovations in hardware and software, targeted hardening of existing electrical infrastructure, training and other means. Installations have a wide variety of energy systems that deliver electrical and thermal energy to power critical missions, fuel industrial processes, and power facilities and vehicles. Most installations rely on the commercial electrical grid for primary power and building-level diesel generators and uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) for back-up power to serve critical loads. More frequent and stronger natural disasters and threats to the commercial electric grid require new solutions to improve energy resilience and meet the energy requirements for mission assurance. Resilient energy systems enable the DoD’s facilities, weapon systems, and equipment to perform mission-critical functions when the commercial grid and other off-base energy resources are unavailable.