Quanta Government Solutions Wins $73 Million Rock Island Arsenal Microgrid Contract

Quanta Government Solutions LLC of Houston has won a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers firm-fixed-price contract to build a power-generation system and microgrid at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois. The award has a total cumulative face value of $73 million. The project will combine natural-gas generation, solar power, battery storage and a connection to the arsenal’s existing hydropower plant to support operations during power outages. The Corps’ Louisville District is the contracting activity, and work is expected to be completed by March 24, 2029.

Rock Island Arsenal Power Generation and Microgrid Details

Under the Rock Island Arsenal microgrid solicitation, Quanta will construct and commission seven 2-megawatt natural-gas generators, approximately 8,000 solar panels providing 3 megawatts of generation, and a stand-alone battery energy storage system rated at 400 kilowatts. The project also calls for a connection to the installation’s existing hydropower plant. A project document covering natural-gas service says the new generators require a meter, pressure reducer and bypass loop; the solicitation requires the arsenal’s gas supplier, Mid-American, to install that service.

Quanta will build a switchgear facility with approximately 22 medium-voltage main, feeder and tie circuit breakers. The switchgear is intended to deliver power to the arsenal during normal operations, partial outages and the loss of primary utility feeders. The project’s electrical-protection specifications call for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories relays and controllers compatible with equipment already used in the arsenal’s distribution system and new Substation A.

The new microgrid controls must also connect with the existing Allen-Bradley supervisory control and data acquisition system used by the hydropower plant. According to the controls integration document, that connection will provide the microgrid with hydropower status and some control functions while giving existing system operators information about microgrid operations. The hydropower control room is more than a mile from the planned microgrid location.

Rock Island Arsenal Energy Resilience Background

The project is part of the Defense Department’s Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program. The Army has identified the arsenal’s Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center—which includes the Army’s only active foundry—as a central reason for protecting the installation against prolonged utility outages. An Army project account describes a planned system combining the new generation and storage with the existing 2.8-megawatt hydropower plant to sustain critical loads during outages lasting weeks. Those are design goals, rather than reported operating results.

The microgrid is advancing alongside other electrical work at the active arsenal. In 2026, the Corps broke ground on an $11.6 million replacement for Substation A, a primary distribution point dating to 1975. The Army said that project would address projected energy demand and proceed alongside the microgrid and transmission-line upgrades.

Award and Contractor Background

The Corps advertised the construction work through full and open competition with a HUBZone price evaluation preference and received seven bids. The construction solicitation was issued in April 2026. The government award notice values the initial action at $67.9 million, compared with the contract’s $73 million cumulative face value. Separately, a Defense Department project budget document had estimated the microgrid at $70.48 million before the construction award. Quanta’s HigherGov contractor profile lists the Houston-based awardee.

This award was disclosed by the DoW in its daily press release. Additional contract details will be available on HigherGov in approximately 90 days under W912QR26CA041 after the contract is formally disclosed by the government.