UPDATED ALS SHB pulsed RF HPA

The Department of Energy, through Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) under the University of California's Prime Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231, seeks two pulsed solid-state RF High Power Amplifiers for the Advanced Light Source RF Amplifier Replacement Project, with revised proposals due November 18, 2026 at 3:00 PM Pacific Time. The Set Aside line reads "No Set-Aside Used," so the solicitation is unrestricted.

Place of performance is Berkeley, CA, with delivery to Building 69, Berkeley, CA 94720. The buy is one HPA at approximately 125 MHz (HPA-1) and one at approximately 500 MHz (HPA-2), each delivering 25 kW flat-top pulsed RF output and built on the latest solid-state LDMOS, GaN FET, or equivalent/better technology to replace tube-based amplifiers. The ESD requires a mean time between failures exceeding 150,000 hours and no more than four interruptions per year. The SOW markup sets a maximum delivery of 18 months after receipt of order, a preliminary design review package within 4 months, and a final design review package within 9 months.

Technical requirements include NRTL certification through preliminary and final field evaluations, California licensed structural engineer certification, 100-hour continuous reliability testing at 25 kW before Factory Acceptance Testing with LBNL representatives present, and an ISO-9001 compliant QA/QC program. Offerors must complete the ESD Response Sheet, marking each specification Yes, Partly, or No, and provide export control classification information. Design documentation becomes LBNL property and may not be marked proprietary.

The price proposal must be a total firm fixed price that includes all tariff fees and surcharges, with an optional milestone payment schedule. The Buy American Act applies, with exceptions for foreign products priced 20-30% below domestic alternatives. The NAICS code is 334220, with a small business size standard of 1,250 employees. LBNL may award without discussions and reserves the right to make no award, a single award, or multiple awards.

Evaluation uses adjectival ratings (Excellent, Good, Acceptable, Unacceptable) across four technical factors: ability to meet technical requirements and technical approach, delivery and schedule, quality assurance, and past performance. Award goes to the responsive, responsible offeror offering the best overall value, weighing price against those factors.

The October 27, 2026 question-and-answer modification states that LBNL accepts a closed-loop liquid-cooled SSPA with its heat exchanger in the same rack as the transmitter, and that off-the-shelf systems meeting its requirements receive high consideration.