Waste to Energy Facility Operator

Pinellas County, Florida (“County”) is embarking on a multi-phase Request for Proposal (RFP) process to enter into a long-term contract for the operation and maintenance of its Waste-To-Energy Facility (WTE Facility) located at 3001 110th Avenue North, St. Petersburg, Florida 33716. The County intends to select and enter into a service agreement (Service Agreement) with the Proposer whose Proposal is determined, in the sole judgment of the County, to be in the best interest of the County. To be eligible to enter into the Service Agreement with the County, such Proposer must continue to meet all of the Minimum Qualifications Criteria contained in this RFP from the date the Statement of Qualifications is submitted until the day the Service Agreement is signed by the County.

RFP Phase 1 is requesting Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) from qualified companies (“Proposers”). The qualified Proposers who respond will be evaluated in accordance with the procedures and criteria set forth in this RFP. Highest ranking Proposer(s) who are deemed, in the sole judgment of the County, will be invited to respond to Phase 2, as developed and issued by the County to the short-listed Proposer(s).

RFP Phase 2 It is presently contemplated that the RFP will contain:

1. A description of the RFP process and schedule;
2. A description of the County’s rights;
3. Proposal submission requirements;
4. A description of the evaluation and selection process;
5. A Service Agreement;
6. A Construction Agreement (if applicable);
7. The Proposal Forms required to be submitted in the Proposal; and
8. A description of the technical data available for the Proposer’s review and instructions for

visiting the WTE Facility.

The County owns the WTE Facility which is managed by the Pinellas Department of Solid Waste (DSW). The WTE Facility has a nameplate capacity of 3,150 tons per day (tpd) of municipal solid waste and the recovered energy generates 75 - megawatts (MW) of electrical power. The WTE Facility is comprised of three 1,050 tpd water wall, mass-burn combustors, and two GE turbine generators, one with a nominal rating of 50 MW and the other with a nominal rating of 25 MW. The first two combustors supply steam to the 50 MW turbine generator which became operational in May 1983. The third combustor and the 25 MW turbine generator became operational in October 1986. Each combustor includes a Martin GmbH reciprocating type combustion grate system and a Riley Stoker boiler.

Commencing in 1983, the WTE Facility has been operated and maintained on behalf of the County by third party private operators, including Wheelabrator Pinellas, Inc. (WPI) from 1983 up until 2007, Veolia ES Pinellas Inc. (Veolia) up until 2012, and GCS Pinellas up until December 2014. The operation and maintenance of the WTE Facility is currently performed by Reworld Waste LLC (formerly Covanta Projects, LLC) under the existing Service Agreement, which is set to expire at midnight on December 31, 2024. The County and Reworld Waste are currently negotiating an extension of the existing Service Agreement to allow for the safe and efficient operation and maintenance of the WTE Facility until a new Service Agreement is signed by the County with the successful Respondent to this procurement.

The generated electrical power is currently used to run the WTE Facility, with the excess being sold to Duke Energy (Duke) pursuant to a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between the County and Duke that provides for the payment of both an electrical energy component and an avoided capacity component. The current PPA ends on December 31, 2024. The County is in the process of securing an agreement with a third-party energy asset manager to move energy sales on the grid. As these sales will be market dependent, it is anticipated that the WTE Facility operator, the County and the energy asset manager will coordinate to maximize sales potential including, and not limited to, alteration of major and minor outage schedules and ongoing communication regarding facility status, generation potential and unscheduled outages.