Shore Power HV Operations Management - Portsmouth International Port

Description

Portsmouth City Council (the 'Council') is seeking to engage in pre-procurement soft market testing discussions with suitably qualified and experienced operators in respect of a forthcoming contracting opportunity concerning the management of a shoreside power, high voltage (HV) connection at Portsmouth International Port (the 'Port'). The Port has bold ambitions to reach net zero by 2030 and become zero emission by 2050. To support the Port in its environmental ambitions, the Council has secured £19.8M of UK government 'Zero Emissions Vessels & Infrastructure' (ZEVI) for the delivery of a shoreside electrical power solution at the Port which will service its three busiest berths. Delivery of this ground-breaking decarbonisation project - titled 'Sea Change' - will allow visiting ferries and cruise ships to 'plug in' when berthed at the Port instead of running engines to power on-board systems. In accordance with the funding requirements, the shoreside power system is required to be operational by the end of March 2025 and subsequently remain in operation for a minimum 3-year demonstration period. The Council has already entered a contract with ABB Ltd for the supply, installation, cabling, commission, servicing, and maintenance of the shore power connection solution. Under the current programme it is envisaged that the shore power solution will be installed by 1st February to enable testing and commissioning to take place ahead of go live on 1st April 2025. Whilst ABB have been secured to deliver servicing and maintenance of the shore power solution, this agreement does not cover the delivery of day-to-day operational management requirements at the Port. The Council requires an operator to manage the operations of the shore power berth connection. The Council envisages entering into a 3 year contract - which reflects the 3 year Sea Change project demonstration period - extendable by a further 2 years in increments to be agreed. The full scope of services will formally commence on the go live date of 1st April 2025, however input and engagement into the testing and commissioning processes prior to the go live date will also be required. The Council envisages securing the operator in line with the following draft summary procurement programme, however it should be noted that the dates below are purely indicative and may be subject to future change: • Soft market testing - July 2024 • Issue FTS Contract Notice - 9th September 2024 • Issue procurement documents via In-tend - 9th September 2024 • Tender submission deadline - 24th October 2024 • Award decision notification - 9th December 2024 • Standstill period completes - 19th December 2024 23:59 • Contract award - 20th December 2024 • Mobilisation, support, and training - from 6th January 2025 • Commencement of full services - 1st April 2025 The Council would like to engage in 1-1 meetings with suitably qualified and experienced operators in order to gain an understanding of likely market interest, capacity, options, risks and costs. The Council ideally wishes to undertake meetings in person at the Terminal Building to enable interested operators to also undertake a tour of the site, however the Council can also undertake the meetings remotely via Teams if this is preferred by particular operators. The Council has capacity to undertake a maximum of 6, 90 minute 1-1 meetings during week commencing 22nd July 2024 and can offer the following slots: • 25th July 2024 09:30 - 11:00 • 25th July 2024 11:15 - 12:45 • 25th July 2024 14:00 - 15:30 • 26th July 2024 09:30 - 11:00 • 26th July 2024 11:15 - 12:45 • 26th July 2024 14:00 - 15:30 Operators interested in taking part in a 1-1 meeting are required to complete and return an Expression of Interest form via the Council's e-sourcing system by no later than 23rd July 2024 17:00. The In-tend system can be accessed free of charge via the following web link: https://intendhost.co.uk/portsmouthcc/aspx/home Lot 1: The Council requires an operator to manage the operations of the shore power connection across the three busiest berths at the Port. At present, the Port has several vessels calling daily throughout the year, which is usually between the hours of 06:00-23:59. It is anticipated that the appointed HV operator will be required 365 days of the year, with an estimated 650 connections during the year, however requirements will be demand led and no guarantees can be provided in respect of minimum or maximum numbers of annual connections. Similarly the Council will not be able to provide a binding guaranteed per annum value for the contract. The Council will use the feedback gathered from this soft market testing process to establish informed non-binding demand dependent value range estimates that will be published when the subsequent formal advertised procurement process is undertaken. The Council require the services of a suitably qualified and experienced HV operator for the delivery of: • Early engagement with the Port and ABB to carry out the testing and commissioning of the shore power solution • Operational management of the shore power solution in accordance with O&M and site specific processes, including the: o Creation & management of safe system of work o Vessel connections and disconnections o On site attendance by suitably qualified and trained operatives, including the provision of the Authorising Engineer (AE) o Completion of operational audits o Reporting of suspected and confirmed system faults and operational alerts • Provision of HV awareness training to relevant Port staff The Council will require the operator to be able to attend site on a dynamic basis as berthing programmes can be subject to change at short notice due to weather conditions and other factors. The operator will need to remain on site at all times whenever vessels are connected to the shore power system. Interested operators will not be required to be able to demonstrate delivery of shore power operations in order to bid but must be able to evidence at least one example of undertaking the following technical activities: • Current experience of undertaking switching operations and management of a similar size HV system to that which will be installed at the Port