Grand River Conservation Authority

Transcription

1 Grand River Conservation Authority Report number: GM Date: February 24, 2017 To: Subject: Members of the Grand River Conservation Authority Parkhill Hydro Plant Engineering Services Recommendation: THAT the Grand River Conservation Authority accept the Engineering Services proposal from WSP Consultants and enter into an agreement in the amount of $359,720 (excluding HST) for the Environmental Assessment and Design of the Parkhill Dam Hydro Plant. Summary: A request for engineering services proposals for the Environmental Assessment and Design of the Parkhill Dam Hydro Plant was issued Friday November This request for proposals (RFP) was advertised on Biddingo as well as on the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) website. Five proposals were received. A staff team evaluated the proposals. Results of this evaluation concluded the proposal from WSP Consultants provides the best value to the GRCA. The cost of the WSP proposal is $359,720 (excluding HST). It will be included in the budget, funds will be borrowed from the land sale reserve to finance this project. Report: In the September 2016 board report GM the board authorized staff to enter into agreement with the The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) under the Feed-in-Tariff Program for the sale of electricity from the proposed Parkhill Dam hydro generating station. Under the 40 year contract the IESO would pay GRCA cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh) for electricity supplied by the proposed Parkhill Dam generating station in Cambridge. The contract price includes an escalation clause, whereby the price increases at a rate of 20% of the annual Consumer Price Index. Annual production from the site is estimated at 3.7 million kwh. The capital cost of the generating station is estimated at $5.2 million; this figure includes design, construction, an environmental assessment, approvals and a contingency allowance of 20%. The agreement with the IESO was signed on September 27 th A signed back agreement was received on December 12 th The GRCA issued a request for engineering services proposals on Friday November 18 th The scope of the RPF included completion of a Class Environmental Assessment for Water Power projects, detailed design, tender specifications and plans for development of the Parkhill

2 Dam Hydro project. The request for proposals was advertised on the GRCA and Biddingo.com web sites. A site meeting was held on Friday December 2 nd 2016 to allow interested consultants to view the site of the proposed hydro development and ask questions regarding the proposed project and request for proposals. All firms submitting proposals attended. All requested background information was posted to the Biddingo web sites on Friday December 23 rd A list of consolidated questions and answers was compiled and posted to the Biddingo web site on Monday January 23 rd Deadline for proposals was Monday February 6 th pm. A total of 65 interested firms downloaded the request for proposals. Five proposals were received for this project. The request for proposals includes five phases of engineering services summarized below: Phase 1 Background review and update of the conceptual design prepared by Genivar Consultants in Phase 2 Background data review, identification of data gaps and design of plan to collect additional field data and information required to support the Class Environment Assessment (EA) for Water Power projects. Phase 3 Completion the EA for water power projects and approvals for development of a small hydro power project at Parkhill Dam. Phase 4 Detailed design, approvals, tender specifications and plans to construct a new hydro plant at the Parkhill Hydro site. Phase 5 Assistance with tendering, review of tenders through to award of contracts. The project schedule, cost and level of effort in person hours for the five proposals is summarized by Table 1. Proposal costs ranged from $223,600 to $606,977. Person hours of effort ranged from 1571 person hours to 4569 person hours. Person hours for CIMA the proposal includes an estimate for sub consultant person hours based on sub consultant cost and hourly rate. All other proposals included person hour efforts totals for each phase. Proposals were reviewed by an internal staff team consisting of Joe Farwell CAO, Dwight Boyd Director of Engineering, and Gus Rungis Senior Engineer Water Infrastructure. Proposals were ranked using evaluation criteria exclusive of cost. Proposal rank, cost, person hours of effort and schedule were used to determine best value to the GRCA. After reviewing the five proposals, the proposal from WSP is recommended as providing the best value to the GRCA. The WSP proposal is recommended for the following reasons: a. Staff at WSP (formerly Genivar) completed the most recent feasibility study of hydro development at Parkhill Dam in June of They are aware of the site and the project in general. This is reflected in their proposal with less time allocated to Phases 1 and 2. Emphasis in their proposal is on the EA, design and approvals, including an early start to the detailed design of the facility.

3 b. WSP staff have extensive experience with both the approvals and design of low head run of the river small hydro developments like Parkhill Dam site. They are well qualified and have the resources to take on this project. c. The WSP proposal included more meetings with GRCA and stakeholders than other proposals. Public stakeholder engagement will be important to the success of this project. d. WSP proposes to start the design phase earlier than other proposals. This will depend on feedback from the public and stakeholder meetings. If the EA and public engagement is progressing smoothly detailed design will be initiated early. e. If additional unforeseen work is encountered through the project, WSP offers the lowest average hourly cost. Financial implications: The total cost of $359,720 (HST excluded) will be funded by borrowing from the land sale proceeds reserve. The 2017 budget includes $200,000 and depending on the timing of expenses, subsequent forecast adjustments will be made and an appropriate amount will be included in the 2018 budget. Other department considerations: None. Prepared by: Dwight Boyd Director of Engineering Approved by: Joe Farwell Chief Administrative Officer Prepared by: Gus Rungis Senior Engineer Water Control Infrastructure

4 Table 1 Note: * Person hours for CIMA proposal include an estimate for sub consultant person hours based on sub consultant cost and hourly rate. All other proposals included person hour efforts totals for each phase.

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