SOURCES SOUGHT
C -- RECOVERY ACTION - NREL/DOE Wind Turbine Dynamometer Upgrade
- Notice Date
- 9/2/2009
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541310
— Architectural Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Energy, Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC (DOE Contractor), National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado, 80401
- ZIP Code
- 80401
- Solicitation Number
- RAM-9-99440
- Archive Date
- 10/6/2009
- Point of Contact
- Neil D Wikstrom, Phone: 303-384-6960
- E-Mail Address
-
neil.wikstrom@nrel.gov
(neil.wikstrom@nrel.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Synopsis: The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, manager and operator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is planning to release one or more Requests For Proposals or RFP(s) for the preliminary design, detailed equipment design, detailed building design, equipment fabrication, building construction, installation and commissioning required to upgrade the NREL/DOE 2.5-MW Wind Turbine Dynamometer (2.5-MW Dyno). Up to $10M of funding is available to support this activity. The purpose of this sources sought notice is to obtain an expression of interest and capabilities of potential subcontractors and suppliers, obtain comments on the procurement options, and provide notification of the planned upcoming RFP(s). Subcontracts for the upgrade activities will be funded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. All subcontractors will be expected to meet ARRA eligibility and reporting requirements. In keeping with the purposes of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, in particular, to preserve and create jobs and to promote economic recovery in the United States, as well as provide investments needed to increase economic efficiency by spurring technological advances, interested parties responding to a resulting Request for Proposal from this sources sought notice and performance or work under a resulting subcontract must be a United States (U.S.) company in the United States or its territories. A U.S. company is defined as a business incorporated or formed as a legal entity in the U.S. (50 states, territories, and possessions of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or the District of Columbia). Any resulting subcontract for performance will be funded, in whole or in part, with funds appropriated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Pub. L. 111-5, (Recovery Act or Act). Background: Laboratory testing of wind turbine drivetrains is required to ensure performance, reliability, and troubleshoot problems on production and prototype machines. NREL has operated a 2.5 MW wind turbine dynamometer since 1997 at NREL’s National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). The NWTC testing capabilities have evolved over 30 years of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) support and through industry partnerships. The NWTC is the only facility in the United States that provides wind industry manufacturers, developers, and operators with turbine drivetrain testing. A description of the NREL wind turbine dynamometer capabilities can be found in the NREL technical report Wind Turbine Testing in the NREL Dynamometer Test Bed http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy00osti/28411.pdf. The NWTC 2.5-MW test facility is unique in the United States in that it provides the DOE Wind Program and industry partners with the capability to test and characterize operation of a fully integrated wind turbine drivetrain system (i.e., gearbox, generator, and power conversion system). NWTC drivetrain testing is used by the wind industry to identify potential problems in drivetrain components (especially gearboxes) prior to large-scale manufacturing production. The NWTC primarily conducts two types of drivetrain tests; long-term fatigue testing (Highly Accelerated Lifetime Testing/HALT) and short-term performance verification testing. On May 1st, 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy Secretary announced funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for improvements to the NWTC, including doubling the capacity of the existing dynamometer to 5-MW to test the performance and reliability of the latest generation of large wind turbine drive trains. Several options are available for upgrading the capacity of the existing 2.5-MW dyno. The NWTC 2.5-MW dyno was originally designed to perform HALT testing up to roughly 2-MW wind turbine drivetrains; the upgrade to approximately 5-MW shaft power enables full HALT testing of drivetrains up to about 4-MW. One option under consideration is to replace the gearbox, generator, and drive system with larger capacity equipment of nominally 5-MW. A more desirable but possibly more expensive option is to build an entire second test bay adjacent to the first that maintains access to existing equipment such as the crane, control room, and hydraulic systems. A second bay will increase overall facility testing throughput, minimize disturbances and downtime, and accelerate the project by removing many of the design constraints associated with a retrofit. Additional capabilities under consideration as part of the upgrade are 1) the ability to apply bending and thrust loads that simulate all the forces that wind turbine rotors apply to their drivetrains; 2) the ability to simulate wind turbine grid events to enable testing of power conversion systems at other frequencies and voltages (e.g. to assess drivetrain operability under transient conditions); and 3) increase torque and power beyond 5-MW to facilitate testing of larger wind turbines. Solicitation Plan: Possible procurement processes for the design and fabrication of equipment and buildings include Design-Build and Design-Bid-Build. The Design-Build process potentially offers faster completion of the project and the use of fewer subcontractors. The unique requirements of the drivetrain test facility, the complexity of the dyno equipment, the expected integration between the equipment and building, the number of upgrade options, and constraints from existing infrastructure favor the use of the Design-Bid-Build process to reduce risk and control costs by permitting time to cost and assess the upgrade options and further develop conceptual designs. However, NREL anticipates that requirements may prevent the subcontractor selected to perform preliminary design from being permitted to propose on the following “Build” RFP(s) on the basis that they would have an unfair advantage in these solicitations. NREL has generated intellectual property (NREL IP) relating to the dyno equipment such as the gearboxes, generators, and non-torque loading systems that have potential to reduce the cost of a full second dyno test bay on the order of 25% to 50% relative to the conventional technologies. Offerers proposing on the preliminary design, detailed design equipment design, equipment fabrication, installation and commissioning will be required to complete a non-disclosure agreement to receive the NREL IP. Offerers will not be required to complete a non-disclosure agreement to bid but will not have access to the NREL IP. The NREL non-disclosure agreement instructions, contact information, and template are provided at http://www.nrel.gov/technologytransfer/pdfs/nda_unilateral.pdf. Offerer intellectual property and business sensitive information will be protected in accorddance with terms to be listed in the RFP(s). The RFP(s) are anticipated to begin to be issued as early as October of 2009. NREL anticipates proposals will be due within four to eight weeks of the RFP(s). Planned Scope of Work: The scopes of work considered for the upcoming RFP(s) are expected to include preliminary design, detailed equipment design; detailed building design, equipment fabrication, building construction, installation and commissioning required to upgrade the NREL/DOE 2.5-MW Wind Turbine Dynamometer (2.5-MW Dyno). Planned Selection Criteria: The best value selection criteria will be developed and provided in the upcoming RFP(s). In general, topics to be considered in the criteria are expected to include cost, subcontractor qualifications and previous relevant experience, technical merit, risk and risk management plan, and deliverable schedule. Expressions of Interest: This is not a request for proposals. Not responding to this notice will not disqualify anyone from participation in the RFP(s). Expressions of interest should not include detailed proposals or questions, but should include the following information: a brief background of capabilities and relevant experience, the names, addresses, telephone numbers, facsimile numbers and email addresses of the primary contact person (and sub tier-subcontractors if desired); a statement indicating whether the participant(s) wish to be listed in the RFP(s), and (optionally) comments on the proposed solicitation plan. Responses to questions regarding the upcoming RFP(s) will not be given at this time. Responses to this notice should not exceed 10 pages. Responses should be received at NREL by September 21, 2009. All response should be sent by email to Neil Wikstrom at Neil.Wikstrom@nrel.gov. Attachments should total less than 20 MB in size. It is recommend that responders request a read receipt as no other confirmations will be given for submissions.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOE/NREL/NR/RAM-9-99440/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 18200 State Highway 128, Arvada, Colorado, 80007, United States
- Zip Code: 80007
- Zip Code: 80007
- Record
- SN01937534-W 20090904/090903000544-0cbdb1e25fb546c5e8b4b69b9603cc8d (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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