Key Takeaways
- You can find energy storage RFPs in one searchable place on Energy Adepto.
- The main types include Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), paired solar + storage, all-source, long-duration, Distributed Energy Resources (DER), and pumped hydro RFPs.
- RFPs are posted across dozens of fragmented sources: utility portals, independent evaluator or RFP consultant sites, and power industry organization websites.
- Key variables to evaluate quickly in any storage RFP: MW capacity, MWh duration, delivery date, technology eligibility, and contract structure.
- Storage RFP volume is growing fast, driven by state mandates, falling costs, and the retirement of coal power plants.
Energy storage RFPs are formal procurement solicitations issued by utilities, co-operatives, and other load-serving entities seeking competitive bids to supply storage capacity to the grid. Energy storage is one of the fastest-growing segments of the power sector, and utilities, co-ops, and municipalities across North America are actively issuing energy storage RFPs to meet capacity needs, reliability mandates, and clean energy goals. For developers, EPCs, and battery integrators, these opportunities represent a huge pipeline. Finding and tracking them is a real challenge, especially for companies trying to enter the market. Procurement notices are scattered across utility portals, state regulatory filings, industry listservs, and consultant websites.
A lot of time and money go into participating in high value energy storage RFPs. The winning deal could mean a $50+ million-dollar contract and a chance to build a relationship for future projects. That is why it is critical to understand all the RFPs that are out there and which ones make the most sense to pursue.
In this article, I’ll break down the landscape of energy storage RFPs: what types exist, what buyers are looking for, and how Energy Adepto helps you discover and track active opportunities in one place.
What Are Energy Storage RFPs?
An energy storage RFP (Request for Proposals) is a formal solicitation issued by a utility, co-operative, municipal utility, or other load-serving entity that is seeking bids from developers or suppliers to provide energy storage capacity. These can range from standalone battery projects to paired solar-plus-storage systems, pumped hydro, and long-duration storage technologies.
Energy storage RFPs vary significantly in scale, technology preference, duration requirement, and contracting structure. Some seek large-scale grid assets of 100 MW or more. Others are focused on distribution-level or community projects. Understanding this landscape is the first step toward identifying the right opportunities for your team.
Types of Energy Storage RFPs
Energy storage RFPs don’t always look the same. The solicitation type often reflects the buyer’s policy environment, grid needs, and technology flexibility. Here are the main categories you’ll encounter.
Standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) RFPs
These solicitations specifically target Battery Energy Storage Systems. Buyers are typically seeking dispatchable capacity and ancillary services such as frequency regulation, voltage support, or peak shaving. Projects are often 4-hour duration systems in the range of 20–250+ MW.
Examples
Paired Solar + Storage RFPs
Many utilities issue solar RFPs that explicitly allow or prefer paired battery storage. Bidders can often submit for solar-only or solar-plus-storage in the same solicitation.
Examples
- NCPA Renewable Energy Resources and/or Energy Storage Resources RFP
- City of Boulder BESS Site Solar Power and/or Battery Energy Storage Facilities
All-Source RFPs
All-source RFPs are technology-agnostic solicitations open to any supply-side resource, and energy storage is almost always an eligible technology. These often come from larger utilities with significant capacity needs and can be the largest opportunities in the pipeline.
Examples
- NorthWestern Energy All-Source Capacity RFP 2025
- Texas & New Mexico SPS 2025 All-Source Request for Proposals
Long-Duration Energy Storage RFPs
A growing category, long-duration energy storage RFPs target resources with 8+ hours of storage capacity. These are driven by state mandates (ex. California, Massachusetts, New York) and an interest in new technologies such as flow batteries, iron-air batteries, and compressed air.
Example
Distributed Energy Resource (DER) RFPs with Storage
At the distribution level, utilities and other large power users are procuring behind-the-meter and front-of-the-meter storage resources through DER RFPs. These tend to be smaller in scale but can be easier to deploy if the MW size is small enough to not have to go through an interconnection queue.
Examples
What Do Buyers Specify in Energy Storage RFPs?
Every energy storage RFP has a different set of requirements, but the most important variables to evaluate quickly are the following:
- Capacity (MW): The power output required. Often broken into minimum, preferred, and maximum tiers.
- Duration (MWh): How many hours of storage are required at max capacity (e.g., 2-hour, 4-hour, 8-hour).
- Technology eligibility: Whether the RFP is limited to BESS or open to other technologies.
- Commercial Operating Date (COD) / in-service date: When the resource must be operational and delivering capacity.
- Location / interconnection: Service territory, ISO/RTO region, and interconnection queue requirements.
- Contract structure: Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) or asset purchase.
- Ancillary service requirements: Whether frequency response, voltage support, or black start is required.
- Development stage: Level of site control, permitting, and interconnection progress required at time of bid.
Where Are Energy Storage RFPs Published?
One of the core challenges in tracking energy storage RFPs is that there is no single centralized registry. Procurement notices are distributed across:
- Individual utility procurement portals and websites
- Independent consultant websites managing the solicitation process
- Industry association newsletters and mailing lists
- News outlets
- Federal Register for certain government-linked procurements
Because of this fragmentation, developers who are manually monitoring energy storage RFPs frequently miss opportunities or discover them too late in the process to prepare a competitive bid. Energy Adepto solves this by aggregating RFPs from across all these sources into a single, searchable database.
How Energy Adepto Tracks Energy Storage RFPs
The Energy Adepto platform continuously monitors utility websites, regulatory portals, industry organizations, and consultant postings to identify new energy storage RFPs as they are released. Each RFP is reviewed, categorized, and enriched with key metadata so you can filter by technology type, geography, capacity, and deadline without reading through dozens of documents.
AI-Powered RFP Summaries
Long RFP documents often 30, 50, or even 100+ pages are automatically summarized using AI to surface the key decision points. Instead of spending hours reading dense procurement language, you get a structured overview of requirements, timelines, and contacts in seconds.
Summaries allow your team to quickly evaluate whether an opportunity is worth pursuing before spending hours reviewing the full document.
Geographic Coverage
The Energy Adepto database covers energy storage RFPs primarily in the U.S. and Canada.
Filtering and Search
Within the platform, you can filter the full RFP database by:
- RFP type (Energy Storage, Solar + Storage, All-Source, Renewable, etc.)
- Organization
- State or region
- Submission deadline
- Active vs. closed solicitations
This means your business development team spends time on qualified opportunities rather than data collection.
Why the Energy Storage RFP Market Is Growing
The volume of energy storage RFPs has grown over the past several years, driven by several key changes:
- State storage mandates: California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, and others have enacted legislation requiring utilities to procure specific quantities of storage by defined deadlines.
- Grid reliability concerns: High penetration of variable renewables is increasing the need for dispatchable, fast-response resources.
- IRA storage tax credit: The Inflation Reduction Act standalone storage tax credit (ITC for standalone storage) improved project economics.
- Falling costs: Battery prices have declined significantly, making storage competitive with peaker plants in many markets.
- Retirement of coal: Utilities replacing retiring coal plants are increasingly turning to storage as an alternative.
Energy Adepto: Your Energy Storage RFP Database
Energy Adepto aggregates active BESS, paired solar + storage, long-duration, and all-source RFPs into one searchable platform. AI summaries, deadline tracking, and new opportunities are added continuously.
