RFQ Issued for New Flexible Generation Capacity

On October 17, 2025, the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority (the “Authority”), in collaboration with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (“PREPA”), issued a Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) requesting Statements of Qualifications (“SOQ”) from companies interested in providing additional generation capacity through new facilities (“Generation Facilities”).  The Generation Facilities will be located at suitable locations throughout the island, pursuant to long-term public-private partnership agreements (each such Generation Facility, a “Project”).

The purpose of the RFQ is to identify Qualified Respondents that meet the minimum requirements to develop a Project and receive the Request for Proposals (“RFP”) issued by the Authority.  To be shortlisted, a Respondent must demonstrate:

• Capabilities and experience in siting, developing, permitting, engineering, designing, financing, constructing, installing, testing, managing, operating, and maintaining combined-cycle or simple-cycle multiple fuel generation facilities of up to a maximum of 400 MW, and/or renewables plus batteries, and/or battery energy storage systems, and/or waste-to-energy or any other relevant technologies;
• Financial stability and capital;
• Proven technical expertise, with a track record of high-quality, safe, reliable, and resilient operations, including in locations subject to extreme weather or seismic risks;
• Experience and capability in financing merchant or independent power generation plants;
• Experience and demonstrated ability to coordinate with a largely Spanish-speaking workforce;
• Experience complying with regulatory and permitting approvals in Puerto Rico (based on U.S. federal laws and Puerto Rico laws) or substantial similar jurisdictions; and
• Readiness to site, develop, permit, engineer, design, finance, construct, install, test, manage, operate, and provide long-term management, operation and maintenance of its proposed Project as described by the Respondent in the Project Description, provided that the proposed Project is chosen based on the evaluation criteria.

Qualified Respondents will receive the RFP issued by the Authority.  The RFP will procure an additional 3,000 MW of firm capacity. The RFP will be open to any generation technology that qualifies as firm capacity (e.g. thermal generation, battery storage, and renewables coupled with batteries).  Coal-fired and nuclear technologies are not allowed.  However, Qualified Respondents are encouraged to propose waste-to-energy projects.

Individual generation units should not exceed 400 MW in capacity, must demonstrate sufficient operational flexibility (mostly, fast starting and dispatchable on short notice), and must be able to support the integration of renewable sources.  The Generation Facilities must be located as close as possible to load centers to minimize energy loss on the transmission system.  It is expected that Projects located near electrical, water, port, and fuel-handling infrastructure, as well as within existing PREPA generation sites, will have more efficient permitting, interconnection processes and lower costs. The Generation Facilities must be fully operational no later than thirty (30) months following the issuance of the notice to proceed.

Compensation under the awarded Public Private Partnership agreement will consist of a net electrical output (energy) payment and a dependable capacity payment.  The pricing for the design, construction, installation, and operation of the Generation Facilities will be based on achieving certain availability and capacity thresholds during the term of the contract.  The RFP will further describe details relating to pricing, compensation, financial incentives, and penalties.

The following is the schedule of the major activities and due dates related to the RFQ process:

• October 17, 2025 - Issuance and first publication of public notice of RFQ by the Authority.
• October 30, 2025 - Deadline for submissions of Request for Clarification (“RFC”) with respect to the RFQ by prospective Respondents.
• November 15, 2025 - Issuance of Responses to RFCs regarding the RFQ by the Authority.
• December 3, 2025 - Deadline for submission of SOQ and Project Descriptions (no later than 5:00 p.m. AST).
• December 10, 2025 - Deadline for the Authority to issue RFC’s to Respondents regarding the SOQ.
• December 19, 2025 - Deadline for Respondents to respond to the Authority with respect to RFCs.
• January 13, 2026 - Estimated date for notification to Qualified Respondents.

The RFQ can be accessed here.