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Contract Opportunity

BONNEVILLE DAM DIGITAL GOVERNOR (Supplies)

Notice of Intent to Sole Source

Solicitation Number: W9127N23R0024

Agency: Department of the Army

Office: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Location: USACE District, Portland

Product or Service Code: K059-Modification of Equipment – Electrical and Electronic Equipment Components

NAICS Code: 334513 – Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables

Size Standard: 750 employees

Notice Type: Special Notice

Synopsis:

This is a special notice prepared in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.2 “Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions.” The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Portland District (NWP) intends to negotiate/award a sole-source contract with Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions, Inc. for American Governor equipment and proprietary software required to upgrade ten main unit governors at Powerhouse 1, Bonneville Dam (Project) in Cascade Locks, Oregon. The new equipment is consistent with recent and similar upgrades to the existing main unit governors at the project that were provided by American Governor Company (AGC), which was acquired by Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions, Inc. Pursuant to 10 U.S.C. § 2304(a)(1), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1 and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation (DFARS) 206.302-1, only one responsible source and no other vendor will satisfy agency requirements.

The proposed contract is to supply new equipment, parts, and proprietary software that will be apart of the upgrade process to the existing digital governors in powerhouse 1 to be consistent to the recent and similar upgrades to the existing powerhouse 2 governors at the Project. The proposed contract includes the purchase of of ten fabricated PLC based digital governor retrofit kits, proprietary software and O&M manuals. Physical installation of the new equipment will be done by Project staff.

1. Background: The Government currently owns 145 AGC Digital PLC Governors throughout the Pacific Northwest Region, including the 10 main unit governors at Bonneville Powerhouse 2. The AGC Digital PLC Governors were part of a broad regional effort to upgrade the existing governors due to age and the decreasing availability of spare parts and technical expertise. In 2008 a contract was awarded to retrofit all the plants in the Portland, Walla Walla, and Seattle Districts with new AGC Digital PLC Governors. In 2015, a similar contract was awarded to retrofit all of Omaha District. Although the contract retrofitted all Bonneville Powerhouse 2 governors, Bonneville Powerhouse 1 governors were not included in the regional supply contract as they were not nearing end of life at that time. Bonneville Hydroelectric Dam consists of two powerhouses (PH), with a shared pool of dam operators, electricians, and technicians. PH 1 and PH 2 are both controlled from PH 1 Control Room, with PH 2 governors additionally controlled from PH 2 Control Room. At the moment, the powerhouses do not share controls due to the differences in technology, but integration is planned in the future. This contract is for the supply of new equipment, parts, and proprietary software, to upgrade powerhouse 1 governors. System integration is a field which focuses on the creation of compatibility between electro-mechanical equipment and digital control equipment. Electro-mechanical equipment has historically been controlled through fully physical mechanisms. A prime example of electro-mechanical equipment is electricity creation at hydroelectric dams using physical governors and exciters. Digital systems are digital software-based controllers, such as a PLC, which use software to replace much of the physical control elements of the electro-mechanical equipment. When a digital controller is put into an electro-mechanical system, such as that used for electricity creation at a hydroelectric dam, compatibility between the remaining physical equipment, the new or replacement digital equipment, and software is created. After creation, the software is customized, tested in a controlled environment, and then tested on-site with final commissioning occurring directly on live equipment. All elements of the system must be fully understood and compatible with one another in order to reduce inadvertent operations, reduce excessive safety risks, and reduce the risk to life and property.

• Justification: The mechanical / physical portions of the governor equipment are not proprietary to Emerson. However, the controlling software of the governor equipment is proprietary, and Emerson will not supply the required proprietary software to integrate with the mechanical / physical portion of the governor equipment if the mechanical / physical portion of the system were to be supplied by a different firm. This is typical of the industry due to the integrated nature of electro-mechanical equipment controlled by Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). The justification for the use of consistent software between powerhouses at Bonneville dam include: consistency reduces the risk of mis-operation and permits greater electrical generation reliability; allows exchangeable interfaces in the Bonneville control room and connected networks between powerhouse 1 and powerhouse 2; allows interoperability of software and mechanical support methods and personnel, as well as facilitates faster troubleshooting and elimination of issues through more extensive training, which again facilitates greater security and reliability; and allows risk assessment and cybersecurity assessment to be performed on both powerhouses during one assessment, and allows for greater security through more extensive training and assessment of the software. All of these justifications reduce risk for the government, increase electrical generation reliability, and improve value.

As proprietary software is needed to reduce risk and create the greatest value, the only company which is able to provide these supplies including the proprietary governor software is the owner of the proprietary software, Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions, Inc.

The Government intends to advertise a solicitation for this project on or around June 2023. This is not a solicitation for competitive proposals, quotes, or bids; however, if any interested party believes that they can meet the above requirement, they may submit a capability statement to the point of contact listed in this Special Notice. All information furnished must be in writing and must contain sufficient detail to allow USACE to be able to determine if the interested party can perform the requirement described herein.

A determination by the Government not to compete the proposed acquisition based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement for this requirement.

**NO PHONE INQUIRIES, PLEASE.

CAPABILITY STATEMENT SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

1. Point of Contact name, email address and phone number, CAGE code and DUNS number (if available);


2. In the event that the organization is a small business, please state the category of small business, such as 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB/VOSB, Women-Owned Small Business.


3. The Government will evaluate the capabilities of an interested party based on their ability to manufacture and supply items equal to those listed above, and the proven reliability of those equal parts through evidence of their installation on other projects similar to Bonneville Dam.

A SOLICITATION WILL NOT BE POSTED.

THIS NOTICE IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS OR QUOTATIONS. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement to the contracting officer before the notice end date. If no affirmative written responses are received by 2:00 PM Pacific Time on Friday, 12 May 2023, the Contracting Officer will proceed with the sole source action. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed requirement is solely within the discretion of the Government. Please limit responses to allow the Government to determine interested parties, socioeconomic status availability, and capabilities. The Government intends to use responses to make an appropriate acquisition decision for this project.

Electronic responses and questions shall be submitted via email to all POCs listed, below. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not responsible for any costs incurred by responding to this notice.

Contracting Office Address:

US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District

ATTN: CECT-NWP-C

333 SW 1st Avenue

Portland, OR 97204

Send responses, labeled as “W9127N23R0024 – Bonneville Dam Digital Governors,” to the following:

Kristel.M.Flores@usace.army.mil

Janie.L.Roney@usace.army.mil

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