Solicitation
2026 Distributed Wind Turbine Competitiveness Improvement Project
Department of Energy
AI summaryThe National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), a Department of Energy lab run by Alliance for Energy Innovation, LLC, seeks proposals under RFX-2026-10008, the 2026 Distributed Wind Turbine Competitiveness Improvement Project. It covers 13 topic areas, from turbine design and testing to certification, power electronics and field validation. NLR plans fixed-price subcontracts capped at $200,000 to $800,000 each, and bidders must pay a minimum 20% or 50% share of project cost. The response due date is November 13, 2026, 2:00 PM Mountain, by email. Bidders must be incorporated in the United States. More in the summary
AI summary Beta
This summary may miss requirements: 2 of 9 attachments weren't read (Attachment 6 - Deliverable Summary Table 2026.xlsx, Attachment 4 - LCOE Supplement.xlsx). Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), a Department of Energy lab run by Alliance for Energy Innovation, LLC, seeks proposals under RFX-2026-10008, the 2026 Distributed Wind Turbine Competitiveness Improvement Project. It covers 13 topic areas, from turbine design and testing to certification, power electronics and field validation. NLR plans fixed-price subcontracts capped at $200,000 to $800,000 each, and bidders must pay a minimum 20% or 50% share of project cost. The response due date is November 13, 2026, 2:00 PM Mountain, by email. Bidders must be incorporated in the United States.
Who can bid (7)
- Evidence of incorporation in the United States (W-9 and completed Attachment 3 - Eligibility Verification); a U.S.-incorporated company with foreign owners qualifies
- Primary output of the wind turbine will be electrical power
- Funded work is expected to take place in the United States or U.S. territories unless otherwise justified and approved
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- Turbine system hardware is all new, not refurbished or remanufactured
- The offeror has all recent relevant certification and design standards for the proposed effort
- Minimum price participation (your own cost share) of 20% of project cost, or 50% for Prototype Manufacture, Manufacturing Process Innovation and Field Validation
- Component makers must work with at least one turbine original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
How to submit: Email to Kyndall Jackson, Subcontract Administrator, Kyndall.Jackson@nlr.gov; no file size limit. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (8)
From the version posted Oct 26, 2026.
- Serious: Mandatory qualifications are pass/fail. A proposal that fails any of the five qualifications (U.S. incorporation, electrical output, U.S. work, all-new hardware, relevant certification and design standards) is not evaluated.
- Serious: Required cost share of 20% to 50%. You must pay at least 20% of project cost (50% for three topics) from your own funds, materials or equipment, which is hard for a small firm with little cash.
- Worth checking: Page limits are strict. NLR may remove pages beyond the limit from the sections of a proposal that goes over, so extra material may never be read.
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- Worth checking: Phased proposals run in series with go/no-go stops. Multi-topic proposals can have up to three phases done one after another, and NLR may award phase one without the later phases.
- Worth checking: Work outside the United States needs justification. Funded work abroad, including overseas engineering or mold making, must be justified and approved; it can be proposed as NLR-funded work or as your cost share.
- Worth checking: Certification proposals cover one turbine only. A certification or listing proposal naming more than one turbine is treated as non-responsive and not reviewed.
- Minor: Large businesses need a lower-tier subcontracting plan. The plan requirement does not apply to small businesses; it applies to other offerors that are notified of intent to negotiate.
- Minor: Terms may be rejected if many exceptions are taken. A large number of exceptions to the sample subcontract or one significant exception without benefit to NLR or the Department of Energy may lead to rejection of the offer.
Read from the notice and 7 attachments. 2 of 9 not read. Show which files.
- RFP RFX-2026-10008 - Amendment No. 1.pdf (read)
- Request for Proposal RFX-2026-10008 - 2026 Distributed Wind Turbine Competitiveness Improvement Project.pdf (read)
- Attachment 1 - Statement of Work.pdf (read)
- Attachment 5 - Turbine-Power Electronics Specifications.pdf (read)
- Attachment 2 - Sample Subcontract.pdf (read)
- Attachment 3 - Eligibility Verification.pdf (read)
- Attachment 4 - Figure of Merit - Cost of Energy 2026.pdf (read)
- Attachment 6 - Deliverable Summary Table 2026.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
- Attachment 4 - LCOE Supplement.xlsx: not read (the AI doesn't read this file type yet): open it on SAM.gov
Full summary
What they want
- Choose one or more of 13 topic areas, such as Prototype Design Development, Prototype Manufacture, Prototype Installation and Testing, Component Innovation or System Optimization
- Wind turbine certification and listing topics: Small Turbine Certification and/or Listing and Type Certification and Listing
- Power electronics (inverters, controllers) topics: Development, Pre-Testing and Listing
- Cross-cutting topics: Manufacturing Process Innovation, Technology Commercialization and Field Validation
- Lower the levelized cost of energy (LCOE: the lifetime cost of each unit of electricity) of distributed wind turbines rated 1000 kW or smaller
- Submit single-topic proposals, or phased multi-topic proposals of up to three topic areas with a go/no-go decision between phases
- Deliver work within about 21 months per topic area (Field Validation up to 60 months) under a firm-fixed-price (one set price) subcontract with price participation (the bidder's own cost share)
- Contract type
- Firm Fixed Price with Price Participation subcontract (best value selection)
- Period of performance
- Execution through 21 months per topic area; Field Validation up to 60 months
- Place of performance
- CO, USA (SAM.gov). Funded work is expected to take place in the United States or U.S. territories unless justified and approved
- Estimated value
- Maximum NLR award per topic area: $200,000 (Topics 1 and 12), $300,000 (Topic 6), $400,000 (Topics 3, 4, 5, 8), $500,000 (Topic 13) or $800,000 (Topics 2, 7, 9, 10, 11)
- How they'll choose
- Best value: Statement of Work requirements must be met, then technical merit criteria and evaluated price (cost) are weighed together; a higher-priced offer can win if it has higher technical merit. Mandatory qualifications are pass/fail
- Offers due
- November 13, 2026, 2:00 PM Mountain (4:00 PM Eastern)
- How to submit
- Email to Kyndall Jackson, Subcontract Administrator, Kyndall.Jackson@nlr.gov; no file size limit
- Page limits
- Technical proposal: 15 pages for a single topic, 20 pages for a phased multi-topic proposal. Not counted: title page, cover letter, table of contents, Attachments 3 to 6, resumes, letters of support, Price/Cost proposal and supporting documents
What they'll judge offers on
- Technical approach and readiness: 25 of 105 points (turbine or power electronics description, test or analysis support, LCOE path)
- Competitiveness and project budget (named differently by topic, such as manufacturing plan or test plan): 25 of 105 points, including LCOE and cost justification
- Impact on U.S. market: 25 of 105 points (market development plan, certification path, U.S.-based manufacturing share)
- Team qualifications: 25 of 105 points (recent U.S. distributed wind experience, resumes, letters of commitment, past on-time and on-budget projects)
- Programmatic factors: 5 of 105 points
- Evaluated price (cost)
What to include when you submit
- Send an electronic proposal: an assembled PDF technical proposal organized by the merit criteria of the chosen topic area
- Put the 'Notice for Handling Proposals' text on the title page
- Include a cover letter that accepts, or takes exception to, the sample subcontract (Attachment 2), states the anticipated period of performance and the standard terms and intellectual property terms, and says whether the Statement of Work is accepted
- Include a completed Eligibility Verification (Attachment 3), a W-9, Figure of Merit - Cost of Energy (Attachment 4, with its spreadsheet), Turbine/Power Electronics Specifications (Attachment 5) and a Deliverable Summary Table (Attachment 6)
- Include the Price/Cost Proposal form with supporting detail; price and delivery terms must be valid for 90 days from the date of the offer
- Include the Representations & Certifications form and either the Organizational Conflicts of Interest Representation Statement or the Disclosure Statement
- Include resumes of key team members and letters of commitment for named subcontractors or partners; component makers should name a turbine maker (OEM) they work with
- For certification proposals, cover only one turbine per proposal; proposals with more than one turbine are non-responsive
- For phased multi-topic proposals, give a full technical proposal and Price/Cost proposal for phase one, and an initial plan, costs per phase and deliverable tables for follow-on phases
- Mark any proprietary data with the legend and yellow highlighting the RFP describes
After award, you must have
- Active SAM.gov registration is not needed with the proposal but must be complete by subcontract execution From RFP RFX-2026-10008 - Amendment No. 1.pdf:
Yes, you can apply, but SAM registration would need to be complete by subcontract execution.
Current contractor
No incumbent is named. Past awardees of earlier Competitiveness Improvement Project rounds may bid again and get no preference.
Not in the notice text
- Part of the RFP's middle section (including section 6.14 programmatic factors and the start of the proposal instructions), most of the Statement of Work's task and deliverable detail, and part of the sample subcontract were attached but not fully read
- Attachment 6 (Deliverable Summary Table) and the Attachment 4 LCOE spreadsheet are spreadsheets attached but not read
- Total funding available and how many awards NLR will make are not stated; the amendment says available funding may limit awards
- Merit criteria vary by topic area; only the Prototype Design Development criteria were read in full here
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside: any business, large or small, can bid unless the notice says otherwise.
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email to Kyndall Jackson, Subcontract Administrator, Kyndall.Jackson@nlr.gov; no file size limit. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 26, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Office
- Alliance for Energy Innovation, LLC - DOE Contractor, Golden, CO
- Product/service code
- AJ12 · General Science and Technology R&D Services; General Science and Technology; Applied Research
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 54171)
- Versions
2 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 26, 2026 · Amendment 0001 (this version)Due Nov 13, 2026
- Sep 30, 2026 · SolicitationDue Nov 13, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
Terms on this notice: Solicitation
Full notice text from SAM.gov
10/26/26 Amendment No. 1 posted in reponsonse to questions. The 2026 Distributed Wind Turbine Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) is comprised of thirteen (13) different topic areas, as specified in the Statement of Work (Attachment 1), dated September 14, 2026: Wind turbine development topic areas 1. Prototype Design Development 2. Prototype Manufacture 3. Prototype Installation and Testing 4. Component Innovation 5. System Optimization 6. Small Turbine Certification and/or Listing 7. Type Certification and Listing Power electronics development topic areas 8. Power Electronics Development 9. Power Electronics Pre-Testing 10. Power Electronics Listing Topics areas common to turbine and power electronics development 11. Manufacturing Process Innovation 12. Technology Commercialization 13. Field Validation
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