wind energy statement of qualifications · wind energy services atkins provides engineering,...

Wind EnergyStatement of Qualifications

Atkins | Wind Energy Statement of Qualifications

Contents

1 | Atkins overview 1

2 | Our people make the difference 3

3 | U.S. wind energy experience 4

Contact information:

Cecilia GreenSenior Vice PresidentAtkins 512.342.3375 [email protected]

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Since 1960, Atkins has served governments, communities, and people to enhance the quality of everyday life. From our humble beginnings five decades ago, Atkins has grown to more than 2,900 employees in over 70 offices nationwide. As a full-service firm, Atkins supports a “service line” approach and is organized around the following major technical areas:

• Water and environment• Transportation• Design and engineering

Atkins is consistently ranked in the top 10 percent of design firms in the nation. Our corporate structure facilitates drawing upon the technical resources of the entire firm as needed to successfully complete any assignment.

By developing strong technical skills and expanding its resources in emerging technologies, the company has grown and differentiated itself in a highly competitive marketplace. By combining these strong technical capabilities with a solid understanding of our clients’ businesses, Atkins provides customized services that are unmatched in the industry.

Though we at Atkins are very proud of our heritage and our five decades of experience, these are not the primary factors that generally cause clients to select Atkins as their consultant of choice. We believe that it is good, old-fashioned client service that causes clients to choose Atkins and then to come back to Atkins over and over again. The fact that 90 percent of Atkins’ annual business is typically generated via repeat work from existing clients is a strong testimonial to the level of client service Atkins provides.

Wind energy servicesAtkins provides engineering, environmental, and construction management services to the wind energy industry. Our experienced staff understands wind energy projects and has completed work efforts on 35 wind energy projects and more than 4,000 miles of transmission projects on public and private lands. A brief listing of the services Atkins offers includes:

• Project/program management - Environmental - Engineering - Cost and scheduling

1 | Atkins overview

• Planning - Project feasibility

studies - NEPA including

third-party environmental assessments (EA)/environmental impact statements (EIS)

- Plans of development

- Transportation - Mitigation - Agency

coordination/consultation

- Public scoping/outreach - Federal agency/land coordination

• Engineering design - Civil/roads - Electrical design and layouts - Transmission system design - Structures (transmission and substations) - Trenchless engineering - Field surveys - Utility coordination - Construction plans/cost estimates - Traffic and transportation plans - Feasibility studies - Permitting

• Field studies - Critical environmental issues analysis - Avian and bat pre-construction and post-

construction monitoring - Background noise monitoring - Air quality - Ecological inventory/monitoring - Threatened and endangered (T&E) species

inventories/mitigation - Wetland delineations/mitigation

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- Cultural/archeological resource inventory/mitigation

- Contaminated materials - Site assessments

• Project permitting - Federal - State - Local

• Geospatial technology - GIS analysis and spatial processing - Land information system/land base development

and management - Planning/modeling and analysis to avoid/minimize

impacts - Database development - GPS/mobile GIS field data collection - Custom map production

• Transmission - Site selection/routing - NEPA/state documentation

- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) licensing

- Design - Layout

• Water resources - Hydrology (surface and groundwater) - Hydraulic - Flood mapping/analysis - National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

(NPDES)/best management practices (BMP) services

- Spill prevention, control, and countermeasures (SPCC) plan development

- Stormwater management/design - Water quality - Culvert design - Risk assessments

• Specialized services - Expert testimony - Tribal consultation - Public participation support

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Los Angeles

San Diego

Reno

Henderson

Honolulu

Denver

Colorado Springs

Dallas

Norman

Tyler

Austin

San Antonio

Florence, KY(Cincinnati area)

Coraopolis, PA(Pittsburgh area) Calverton

Chantilly

Alexandria

Newport News

Norcross

Raleigh

Columbia

Marietta

Atlanta

Charlotte

Jackson

Nashville

Pensacola

Chipley

Panama CityBeach

TallahasseeJacksonville

Ft. LauderdaleWest Palm Beach

Miami

SarasotaFt. Myers

Melbourne

Ocoee

Tampa

Bartow

San Juan

OrlandoMetarie(New Orleans area)

Houston

Spring

Orange

San Francisco

Bozeman

Salt Lake City

Helena

Missoula

Omaha

Seattle

KirklandLynnwood

Beaverton

Roseville

Prescott

Phoenix

Lake Havasu CitySan Bernardino

El Paso

Fort Worth

Richmond

York(Harrisburg area)

Edison

MadisonMendotaHeights

Lenoir

Vestavia Hills

04019-12 Rev. 4/16/12

● Atkins North America

2 | Our people make the difference

To support development of your priority wind energy sites, Atkins has staff strategically located throughout the United States. These registered and certified experts can help you successfully plan and develop revenue-generating wind energy projects.

Atkins understands the many challenges involved with developing and constructing wind energy projects. To develop an area optimum for wind energy generation, you need a partner and trusted advisor. Whether it is as your program manager or helping with site selection,

environmental clearance approval, access road design, plan of electrical layout/design, or transmission line design, Atkins has broad capabilities to support and expedite development from planning to operation.

Our staff’s experience and qualifications span the United States. We provide local attention with regional expertise. With 70 offices nationwide, we have the geographic distribution and depth of resources to assist with any project request. Working in partnership with you, we can successfully develop your future wind energy projects.

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Atkins’ wind energy experience

3 | U.S. wind energy experience

Capturing wind to generate energy requires thoughtful site selection—terrain, land ownership, proximity to transmission infrastructure, T&E species, power demand, high wind potential, and bird migrations. Once this is determined, facilities must be developed to capture and transmit the wind energy. Atkins’ full-service capabilities in planning, natural resources, GIS, engineering, program management, and construction management are ideally suited to wind energy developments. Having supported 35 wind energy projects and numerous associated transmission line projects, we can apply our experience to increase site efficiency, reduce the amount of time needed to gain environmental clearance, and reduce

construction time by determining the critical path and phasing project delivery. We understand the varying terrain and can implement lessons-learned on project sites to save time and money.

To demonstrate Atkins’ extensive wind capabilities, we have detailed a few select projects. Project services have included:

• Program management support• Environmental studies• Environmental permitting• Civil and electrical engineering design

Energy016237:JB:0511

Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy ProjectCarbon County, Wyoming

Atkins provided program management, design, planning, and GIS support services to the Power Company of Wyoming (PCW) for the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy project, which consists of two sites totalling approximately 100,000 acres. The project site consists of a checkerboard land pattern with half of the lands being federally (Bureau of Land Management) managed and half being private- or state-owned. In addition to the wind turbines, the proposed project requires construction of ancillary facilities including step-up transformers, underground and overhead electric collection and communication lines, roads, transmission line, substations, and staging areas.

Atkins served as project engineer and provided additional professional services to support PCW in the preparation of a Plan of Development and through the NEPA process under which an EIS was prepared.

Atkins has been using GIS technology from the start of the planning process to better

ClientPower Company of Wyoming, LLC

Key DatesRecord of Decision: 2012 (est.)Construction Start: 2013 (est.)

Support Services Provided• Program management• Site planning• Plan of Development• Conceptual design• GIS mapping and analysis/

land base development• Traffic planning• Transportation master plan• Preliminary phasing,

scheduling, and logistics support

• Project scoping material• LiDAR QA/QC

understand site constraints, environmental requirements, and factors affecting wind energy generation. Preliminary mapping, including digital aerial photography, digital elevation models, existing infrastructure, habitat, wetlands, waterways, cultural resources, public land survey system, and other features, was completed in the early stages of the project. This data was acquired and developed in a GIS format using ESRI’s ArcGIS software. The GIS data was also shared with the engineering team in CAD format to support preliminary design planning.

Atkins used GIS extensively to organize and manage data, maintain version control over files, manage change tracking for evolving datasets, exchange data with various stakeholders, and analyze environmental, design, and planning data in a common environment. This greatly increased the project team’s efficiency and performance over the duration of the project.

Off-shore Wind Farm EISGulf of Mexico, Texas

ClientBaryonyx Corporation

Completion date2014

Project size 41,000 acres / up to 2GW

Services provided • NEPA compliance

• Ecological, social, cultural, and economic assessments

• Navigational assessments

Atkins was selected by Baryonyx Corporation and approved by the Army Corps of Engineers to assist in the preparation of a third party Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Baryonyx off-shore wind farms in the western portion of the Gulf of Mexico. Baryonyx has leased more than 41,000 acres of submerged lands in the Gulf from the Texas General Land Office (GLO) across two sites, with a potential installed capacity of up to 2GW.

The EIS will describe the effects of the proposed Baryonyx wind farms, including project alternatives, on the environment. The assessment will consider ecological factors, as well as social, cultural and economic aspects. Turbines and related grid structures such as substations are also being assessed in regards to navigation.

Water & Environment26415:JB:0412

Texas leads the nation in wind development, and the Texas electric transmission grid has a critical need for expansion. Wind energy production in remote areas of the state has jumped dramatically over the past few years, putting heavy demands on the transmission systems that deliver electricity from the best resource locations in remote areas to where it will be used in urban areas.The greatest challenge facing the wind industry is that wind farms can be built more quickly than transmission lines. It can take a year to build a wind farm, but five years to build the transmission lines needed to send power to cities. Wind power developers are reluctant to build where transmission lines do not yet exist, and utilities are equally reluctant to install transmission in areas that do not yet have power generators. The creation of CREZ in Texas will significantly enhance the state’s transmission capacity, which will encourage wind farm development and further lead to an increase in wind power installations in Texas. A CREZ is an area where wind generation facilities will be installed and from which transmission facilities will be built to various other areas of the state to deliver mostly renewable power to end-use consumers in the most beneficial and cost-effective manner.The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) formally ordered several transmission service providers to construct the new transmission lines that will be required to connect the CREZ to the load centers throughout the state. In October 2009, the PUC identified transmission projects to be constructed that will connect wind-generated energy from west Texas and the Panhandle into the state’s grid. They made a decision in January 2009 stipulating which entities will build which transmission facilities (Final Order issued in March 2009). Wind generation capacity in the state is expected to reach more than 21,000 MW in 2015 on the back of the CREZ program and other federal- and state-supported policies.

The transmission lines that will connect the CREZ to the load centers will increase reliability of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid and increase the transfer of wind and other power into various parts of the state. Atkins served as the environmental consultant for five of the eight transmission service providers selected to construct CREZ transmission facilities:• Oncor• Electric Transmission Texas (ETT)• LCRA Transmission Services Corporation

(TSC)• Sharyland Utilities• South Texas Electric Cooperative (STEC)Atkins completed a total of 26 projects (24 of which were 345-kV projects) that accounted for approximately 1,300 miles of transmission line. The compressed schedules and mandated filing dates associated with the CREZ program led Atkins to implement innovative technologies

that streamlined processes over the life of the projects, and that facilitated efficient project management and reductions of time, cost, and risk for our clients.Services provided by Atkins’ experienced staff included agency coordination, constraints identification, alternative route development, implementation of an automated GIS tool specifically

designed for transmission line evaluation, public involvement, and preparation of environmental assessment and routing analysis documents. After the CCN applications were filed with the PUC, Atkins provided support with technical conferences, route adequacy hearings, responses to RFIs, and expert witness and rebuttal testimony for various PUC proceedings. Following route approval by the PUC, Atkins also conducted investigations of endangered and threatened species; potential Whooping Crane stop-over sites; surveys for potential bat roosting sites, migratory bird treaty act guidance, and cultural resource surveys.

Competitive Renewable Energy Zone ProjectsStatewide, Texas

ClientsOncorETTLCRA TSCSharyland UtilitiesSTEC

Completion DateApril 2011

Services Provided• Environmental assessments,

alternative routing studies• Public involvement• Threatened and endangered

species surveys• Cultural resources surveys• Agency coordination• Expert witness testimony


Atkins provided American Electric Power (AEP) with environmental consulting services in support of the Trent Mesa Wind Project, located between Abilene and Sweetwater in west Texas. The first phase of the project, dedicated in Fall 2001, produces 150 MW of electrical energy.Initial services performed by Atkins provided input into the design and location of the wind project and associated facilities on Trent Mesa. These services included:

•Phase I ESAs for lands owned and leased by AEP

•Endangered species surveys•Habitat mapping•Pre-construction avian surveys•Coordination with the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service (FWS)•Development of a Stormwater Pollution

Prevention Plan (SWPPP)•Cultural resources survey of wind turbine

locations, roads, substations, and distribution and power lines

Additional services included:

•Coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for development of a marking and lighting plan for the turbines

•Environmental assessment (EA) of the entire project

•Three-year, post-construction avian monitoring program

•Transmission line routing study to assess environmental impacts

The avian study addressed potential avian mortality associated with operation of the wind farm. The study included circular-scan observations performed at from eight to 14 sites, two to four times per month, between 2000 and 2004. In addition, a nesting raptor survey using a helicopter was performed. Atkins analyzed the resulting avian data and prepared a report of the findings.Atkins also provided due diligence investigations related to project financing. AEP contracted with Atkins to provide many of these same services for a planned 100-MW expansion of the project, which would have resulted in the largest wind project in Texas at that time. Texas ranks first in the nation for the amount of installed wind energy capacity.

Trent Mesa Wind ProjectNolan and Taylor Counties, Texas

ClientAmerican Electric Power

Completion Date2001


Atkins prepared a third-party Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a 150- to 205-MW wind power generating facility and ancillary facilities located on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in southern Nevada near the communities of Jean, Goodsprings, Sandy Valley, and Primm.The proposed wind-powered generation facility and ancillary facilities would be

located on 325 acres of public land within a 4,500-acre project area. The Proposed Action included construction of 153 wind turbine generators to be located on Table Mountain, Shenandoah Peak, and an area north of Wilson Pass. Ancillary facilities include approximately 19 miles of underground electrical collection lines and fiber optic lines, approximately 20 miles of service roads and 8 miles of access roads, 13 miles of overhead 34.5-kV electric distribution lines, three laydown/staging

areas totalling 5 acres each, and a 10-acre substation site. Electricity generated from the facility will be stepped up from 34.5 kV to 230 kV at the proposed substation and then connected to Valley Electric Association’s existing 230-kV transmission system.Atkins conducted public participation activities; field surveys for cultural resources, wildlife and sensitive plants; and agency consultation and coordination.

Public involvement activities included the publication of meeting notices in the Federal Register, local newspapers, and newsletters and coordination and attendance at the scoping meetings and public hearings. Atkins assisted the proponent in developing alternatives for siting the wind farm. We also developed a GIS-based program using digital evaluation models to three-dimensionally display the visual impacts of siting the facilities and turbines.

Table Mountain Wind Generating Facility EISClark County, Nevada

ClientM&N WindPower

Owner Bureau of Land Management

Completion DateFebruary 2002

Project Cost$17 million (construction cost)


For Williams Power Company, Inc., Atkins provided a feasibility study and economic evaluation for an alternate interconnection point for the gas combined-cycle plant’s excess power. Alternative connection points included the Southwest Power Pool, Entergy, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The analysis included suitable points of interconnection, engineering analysis to enable full injection of the plant capacity into the appropriate control areas, recommendations for design

of substations, transformation equipment, protective switching, and controls. The study also addressed an overview of necessary regulatory permits, approvals, and the interconnection process.

Atkins prepared cost estimates, risks, and timing of each alternative. Estimates of payout timing based on liquidity improvement in terms of volume traded for each control area compared to the existing condition were also prepared.

Evangeline Power Station Alternate Interconnection StudySt. Landry, Louisiana

ClientWilliams Power Company

Completion date2007

Project cost $120,000

Services provided • Feasibility study

• Economic evaluation

Project statistics• Feasibility

• Interconnection

• Cost estimates

• Payout estimates

Evangeline Power Station Alternate Interconnection Study

ClientWilliams Power Company, Inc.

Completion Date2007

Services Provided• Feasibility study

• Economic evaluation

Project Statistics• Feasibility

• Interconnection

• Cost estimates

• Payout estimates

St. Landry, Louisiana Wind Energy

1234567:DD:0610 copyright © PBS&J

For Willams Power Company, Inc.,

PBS&J provided a feasibility study and

economic evaluation for an alternate

interconnection point for the gas

combined cycle plant’s excess power.

Alternative connection points included

the Southwest Power Pool, Entergy, and

the Electric Reliability Council of Texas

(ERCOT). The analysis included suitable

points of interconnection, engineering

analysis to enable full injection of the

plant capacity into the appropriate

control areas, recommendations for

design of substations, transformation

equipment, protective switching, and

controls. The study also addressed

an overview of necessary regulatory

permits, approvals, and the intercon-

nection process.

PBS&J prepared cost estimates,

risks, and timing of each alternative.

Estimates of payout timing based

on liquidity improvement in terms of

volume traded for each control area

compared to the existing condition were

also prepared.


Atkins provided indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity general engineering services for Duquesne Light Company’s substations. Specific projects have included:• Design of replacement of primary and

secondary protection relaying on 345-kV transmission lines at two substations. The lines feed from a nuclear power plant substation to a transmission substation. The relaying for this project was line

differential and backup zone protection. This included design of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), communication, and control circuits. Duties included single line and control circuit development, equipment and wiring requisition, panel design and wiring.

• Design and replacement of primary and secondary protection relaying on several 138-kV transmission lines at both ends of transmission and distribution substations. This included design of SCADA, communication, and control circuits interfaces. The relaying on this project was line differential and backup

zone protection. Most lines were between transmission and substations. The new relaying provided fault identification, asset management, and line protection. New procedures were developed to take advantage of the new capabilities.

• Design of replacement of SCADA units at 138-kV and 23-kV substations with distributive SCADA units. This included the controls and communication systems.

• Design for replacement of controls and communication for power systems for the main control room of the transmission and distribution systems. This included the battery backup systems, diesel generator systems, normal and backup line relay and protection, and annunciation and SCADA system. This project included the diesel generator startup and control, buss and line automated synchronizing, new SCADA, fault recording, and new communication among the equipment.

Duquesne Light Company ID/IQ Engineering ServicesPittsburgh, Pennsylvania

ClientDuquesne Light Company

Completion date2010

Project cost $120,000

Services provided • Electrical design

• Transmission line replacement

• SCADA

• Controls and communication systems

• Fault identification

• Generator startup


09126 | SS | 11© 2011 Atkins North America, Inc.

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