- 9Zero Energy Briefing
- Posts
- Avista’s 415 MW RFP, World Bank Backs Nuclear
Avista’s 415 MW RFP, World Bank Backs Nuclear
Swarnav Pujari
June 17, 2025
Hi there,
Global capital is realigning. The World Bank’s first nuclear-energy approval since 1959 validates small-modular reactors and widens the financing pool for advanced-nuclear startups.
Uzbekistan’s green hydrogen launch shows emerging markets are racing to scale electrolyzers and ammonia supply chains—opening fresh export and tech licensing lanes. At home, the solar build-out hit record Q1 numbers yet faces a 7% dip as incentives fade, while utility-scale batteries are on track to more than double to 65 GW by 2027, signalling a pivot toward stacked-revenue models and recycling plays. The immediate tactical prize: Avista’s 2025 all-source RFP (415 MW winter, 425 MW summer, bids due June 30) rewards cost-competitive storage, demand response, and firm clean power bundles—an ideal FOAK showcase for growth-stage climate tech.
🔦 Signals Worth Monitoring
🔨Headline: World Bank Approves Nuclear Project Financing
What Happened: The World Bank board approved a momentous policy shift to finance nuclear energy projects for the first time since 1959, including support for small modular reactors, reactor life extensions, and grid upgrades.
Why Founders Should Care: This represents massive validation for nuclear startups and opens significant capital availability for nuclear innovation. SMR developers, nuclear fuel companies, and nuclear services providers should prepare for increased project financing opportunities.
🔨Headline: Uzbekistan Launches Green Hydrogen Production
What Happened: Uzbekistan began green hydrogen production in partnership with ACWA Power, targeting 3,000 tonnes annually initially and scaling to 500,000 tonnes of ammonia production.
Why Founders Should Care: This signals global green hydrogen market expansion beyond traditional players, creating supply chain opportunities for electrolyzers, renewable energy systems, and hydrogen infrastructure development.
🔨Headline: Solar Growth Projected to Slow Despite Strong Q1
What Happened: The U.S. solar industry added 10.8 GW of new capacity in Q1 2025 (82% of all new grid capacity) and doubled manufacturing capacity with 8.6 GW of new module manufacturing, but new installations are expected to decline 7% between 2025-2027.
Why Founders Should Care: Use today’s oil price swings as a short-term lever to secure C&I and utility-scale projects, but recognize that fading incentives will slow overall solar growth—so begin testing revenue-stacked models (VPPs, demand response, ancillary services) that thrive on market economics, not subsidies.
🔨Headline: U.S. Battery Storage Set to Double by 2027
What Happened: Utility-scale battery storage is projected to more than double from 28 GW to 65 GW by end of 2026, with EIA expecting 31 GW of new storage capacity in 2025 alone.
Why Founders Should Care: A 37 GW jump in utility-scale batteries is opening fresh territory for hardware, software, and recycling plays; solutions that let solar assets earn from capacity, demand response, or ancillary services will capture this expansion and offset the coming solar-sector slowdown.
🔨Headline: Avista Utilities Releases Major All-Source RFP
What Happened: Avista released its 2025 All-Source RFP seeking proposals to meet identified energy resource shortfall, with initial proposals due June 30, 2025.
Why Founders Should Care: This provides direct opportunity for renewable energy developers, storage providers, and demand response companies to bid on utility-scale projects, serving as a template for other utility procurement processes.
📝 Founder Briefing
Avista Energy Mix from their website
Avista’s 415 MW Clean-Energy RFP
RFP Structure & Timeline: Avista Utilities’ 2025 All-Source RFP (issued May 30, 2025, due end of June) seeks any mix of supply and demand side resources that can solve a looming capacity gap:
Need | Quantity & Timing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Winter Capacity | ~415 MW by 2029 | Up-front capacity earlier than 2029 is welcome if cost-effective. |
Summer Capacity | ~425 MW by 2029 | Same as above. |
Demand Response | ≥ 5 MW by 2029 | DR bids strongly encouraged; Avista may run a dedicated DR RFP if none succeed here. |
Bidders pay one non-refundable fee per proposal – $10,000 for projects ≥20 MW, $2,500 for smaller – though small demand response bids are exempt.
All technologies are eligible. Minimum project size is 20 MW for generation/storage, no minimum for DR.
Timeline:
Shortlist proposals by Sept 1, 2025
Request Detailed Proposals (target due Oct 6)
Allow price “refresh” updates (by Aug 21 and Nov 10, 2025)
Select finalists by Dec 1, 2025. Negotiations with finalists begin Jan 2026 and contracts are expected by May 30, 2026 (compliance filing Aug 28, 2026)
Takeaway for founders: you can compete with a DER aggregation, long duration storage, or even a software driven VPP that ramps up well before 2029—so long as cost (70% of evaluation weighting) and reliability (capacity contribution) pencil out.
Must Pass Guidelines
Site control. Option, lease, or ownership covering the whole footprint.
Financing path. Identify equity, debt, tax-equity, or utility ownership structure. Include security plan: $45 /kW delay and $25 /kW-yr operating security if you lack BBB-credit.
Creditworthiness. Either BBB- rating or parent guarantee or LOC/LC/performance bond/cash.
Major equipment strategy. Demonstrate supply chain and long-lead procurement plan.
Interconnection & transmission. Credible plan—on system projects should reference Avista’s 2025 cluster study; off-system must show firm or conditional firm rights.
Complete. On-time submittal using Avista templates.
Fail one → bid rejected.
Evaluation Matrix
Category | Weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Financial Net Benefit | 60% | Low levelized cost after Avista models energy, capacity, RECs, carbon, integration, transmission. Fixed or capped pricing may beat indexed. |
Price-Risk Profile | 10% | Offer firm rates; hedge commodity risk; cap escalation. |
Electric-Risk Factors | 10% | Mature tech, viable interconnection phase, flexible ramp/ancillary services, robust winter performance. |
Environmental & Permitting | 10% | Show minimal impacts, completed studies, permits in hand, recycling/end of life plan. |
Risk Management / Team Track Record | 5% | Show prior similar builds, binding offtake or financing, realistic schedule. |
Social & Community Benefits | 5% (additive) | Local jobs (above prevailing wage), apprenticeship use, benefits to highly impacted communities, diverse supplier plan, community letters of support. |
70% is price. The remaining 30% can break ties—use it to highlight what’s unique in your tech, workforce plan, or community benefits.
Bottom Line
The Avista 2025 All-Source RFP rewards cost competitive, shovel ready projects that also bolster grid reliability, meet clean energy rules, and tangibly benefit local communities. For growth-stage climate tech founders, it’s a chance to:
Win a FOAK DR or VPP contract.
Pair innovative storage with renewable generation for a firm-capacity profile.
Offer Avista a build-transfer that rate bases your cutting edge tech.
Demonstrate equitable economic benefits in WA & ID communities.
Emphasize fixed pricing and risk mitigation, and be ready to accelerate through a rapid Q3–Q4 2025 vetting. Even a nonwinning bid becomes a polished template for future utility deals—so the exercise can pay long term dividends.
📒 Founder Playbook and Takeaways
Scale or Aggregate: Since standalone projects must hit 20 MW (except DR), consider joint ventures or portfolios of sites. Multiple co-located units can count as one proposal with options. If you offer <20 MW, build a DR or aggregation model around it.
Bundle Value: Highlight any flexibility or ancillary benefits (ramp rate, dispatchability, fuel security). A solar farm + storage, for example, can provide guaranteed winter capacity even when the sun isn’t shining.
Certainty & Detail: Be ready with site control, interconnection studies or plans, and realistic schedules. Avista will screen initial proposals for completeness and feasibility.
Alignment with Clean Goals: Emphasize how your solution advances carbon-neutrality (zero emissions, reduced curtailment of renewables, grid support). Avista’s CEO stressed the need for “clean, affordable, and reliable” resources.
Diverse Solutions: Community projects and maybe small modular reactors can compete under DR. Large-scale renewables with storage can supply bulk capacity. New tech (like hydrogen fuel) can carve a niche.
👀 What we’re continuing to watch
Senate finance markup clock starts mid-week. Chair Mike Crapo is expected to walk through section by section edits to the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill; look for proposed roll-backs to 45X manufacturing, 45V hydrogen and tech-neutral 45Y credits, plus tighter direct-pay caps if not a full repeal.
Senate Energy & Natural Resources hears DOE’s FY-26 budget. Secretary Chris Wright will face questions on hydrogen-hub cooperative agreements, 48C allocation timing, and grid-modernization dollars.
DOE Puerto Rico Resilient Communities FOA could drop any day. The Grid Deployment Office redirected $365M in May; the full funding opportunity is now listed on Infrastructure eXCHANGE.
Continue the conversation in Slack by joining the #energy-briefing channel.
Need another signal on your dashboard? Reply and tell us.
If this saved you time, forward it to another founder or investor and invite them to join 9Zero.