Massachusetts’s electric distribution companies (EDCs) and the state’s Department of Energy Resources (DOER) have launched a request for proposals (RFP) for approximately 1,500MW of mid-duration energy storage systems.
In May, the DOER and the EDCs, which are also the state’s investor-owned utilities (IOUs), took steps to procure 5,000MW of energy storage by 2030 by filing a draft RFP with the MA Department of Public Utilities (DPU) for 1,500MW of mid-duration energy storage systems.
The state’s EDCs are Eversource, National Grid and Unitil. Unitil is also known as Fitchburg Gas & Electric Company, National Grid operates by either Massachusetts Electric Company or Nantucket Electric Company and Eversource is also known as NSTAR Electric Company.
The now-approved RFP for 1,500MW of mid-duration battery energy storage systems (BESS) is the first in a staggered procurement schedule. It will be followed by 1,000MW by 31 July 2026, 1,000MW by 31 July 2027, and the remaining capacity by 31 July 2030.
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In November 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed a comprehensive energy bill that increased the procurement of energy storage systems to 5,000MW by 31 July 2030.
The procurement process has three evaluation stages. First, proposals will be reviewed for eligibility. Next, the evaluation team, comprised of DOER, the EDCs and the Executive Office of Economic Development (EOED), will evaluate the proposals. Finally, the evaluation team will conduct further evaluations based on additional factors such as viability, cost, risk, and effectiveness.
Confidential and public proposals must be submitted by 10 September, projects will be selected, and negotiations will begin on 9 December, long-term contracts and memoranda of understanding will be executed 27 March 2026 and long-term contracts will be submitted for DPU approval on 24 April 2026.
As laid out in the RFP, “the Selection Team may select any cost-effective project or portfolio of projects that meet the criteria outlined in the RFP; however, the Selection Team is not obligated to select any specific amount. There is no preferred bid size, and bids cannot comprise an aggregation of multiple projects.”
Additionally, all proposals must commit to interconnecting to the New England Independent System Operator (ISO-NE).
Massachusetts is part of the ISO-NE regional transmission organisation, which also covers Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
ISO-NE reports that Massachusetts is the leader in demand growth and in the region’s current and planned electric generating capacity.
Recently, the state saw the commissioning of 21.6MWh of BESS by Jinkosolar’s energy storage division, supplied to the EPC services provider, Distributed Energy Infrastructure.
The RFP can be seen along with supporting documents and information on the Massachusetts Clean Energy website set up to provide clean energy procurement updates from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, Eversource Energy, National Grid and Unitil.
