Independent Engineer for Integrated Biorefinery Projects

One of the key missions of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is to advance the state of technology to convert biomass into fuels and useable products that contribute to reducing the United States dependence on foreign oil imports consistent with the requirements of the Energy Policy and Amendments Act of 2005, the Energy Independence and Sustainability Act of 2007, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. In 2006, 2007, and 2009 the DOE ran competitive Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) for commercial-scale and demonstration-scale IBR projects to make fuels and co-products using cellulosic feedstocks. The costs for each of these projects ranged from approximately $50 million to $480 million in total project costs, with up to $100 million being the maximum contribution DOE can make to any single IBR project. These projects are cost-shared up to 50% by DOE; consequently, substantial taxpayer funds have been invested and it's important to try to capture the maximum value for this investment. Capturing the maximum value includes documenting the project results as well as the Lessons Learned and State of Technology. DOE implemented applicable practices outlined in DOE Order 413.3 - Project Management for the Acquisition of Capital Assets to guide its oversight of the IBR projects due to their high levels of risk, complexity, high cost, and national visibility. This Order invokes the use of several project management best practices to control the flow of federal funding through the use of (among a suite of tools) external independent reviews, and critical decision points. Also, because of the factors mentioned above (high complexity, high risk, high cost, national visibility), the need for independent, industry-recognized expertise (expertise DOE does not possess internally) to review and advise DOE on key decision points for each project was determined to be essential. To this end, DOE contracted for Independent Engineer (IE) services through a GSA MOBIS contract to provide subject matter expertise to assist DOE to make decisions that are in the best interests of taxpayers and consistent with project management best practices. BETO has a vital interest in the continuity of IE services through the duration of the IBR projects to assure it maintains effective oversight of these multi-million dollar projects. The EERE BETO requests to issue a follow on Time and Materials contract under GSA Schedule number 874-1, GSA Contract number GS-10F-0324T with Leidos Engineering, LLC for the continued and uninterrupted services of the Independent Engineer (IE) with a 12 month period of performance from date of award for the purposes of: Providing continued support to complete the Technologies Office's oversight of the remaining pilot-scale, demonstration-scale and commercial-scale Integrated Biorefinery (IBR) projects, which are in various stages such as final commissioning phase or closeout phase of the projects. Meeting DOE decision points and milestones that directly impact the IBR projects ability to meet critical milestone and completion dates. Finalize documentation on Lessons Learned and State of Technology Reports. The proposed sole-source award is required to complete DOE's management of the remaining IBR projects including: Abengoa, Algenol, ICM, INEOS, Myraint, POET and Zeachem which all received financial assistance awards from the DOE Biomass Program to design, build, and operate a biorefinery to simultaneously produce ethanol, and several co-products using a variety of cellulosic feedstocks as inputs to the refinery. The successful demonstration of the biorefinery will create replication opportunities across the US in several market applications. The expected outcomes include (1) a facility for the efficient conversion of renewable biomass derived feedstock into bio-ethanol and renewable electric power, (2) creation of marketing, manufacturing and related jobs as well as construction work; and, (3) commercial demonstration of an advanced process technology for generating transport fuel and renewable electricity that has major environmental, greenhouse gas reduction and energy security advantages. The design and construction have been completed leaving the commissioning of the biorefineries to ensure that they run according to specifications, and that they produce biofuels.