Design, Build, Install and Maintenance contract for the construction of a 1MW Solar Farm at St Micha...

Halton Borough Council (HBC) is a Unitary Authority based in Widnes in Cheshire, in North West England comprising the main towns of Runcorn and Widnes. The Council successfully made a bid for European Regional Development funding (ERDF) under ‘Priority Axis 4a – Promoting the production and distribution of energy derived from renewable resources’.

As a result of the ERDF funding being secured, the Council has been developing a 1MWp solar farm on a former brown-field site, a former golf course built on a capped chemical landfill site in Widnes – the Greening Derelict, Underused and Neglected Land Demonstrator Project.

The Council has recently received planning approval for the 1MWp solar farm to be constructed. Plans regarding the scheme can be found on the Council’s planning website under the case number 18/00087/FUL. https://www3.halton.gov.uk/Pages/planning/planningandenvironment.aspx

The Council own the land on which the scheme is to be built, and will own the solar PV plant once it is commissioned and handed over.

The Council are now seeking EPC (Engineer Procure and Construct) proposals for the turn-key design, installation and commissioning of the 1MWp solar farm.

Following completion of the construction works. The EPC Contractor shall be responsible for providing warranty and O&M (Operations and Maintenance) services for a period of two years initially with the option for the Council to offer up to 7 extensions of the contract period of 3 years each subject to a review including performance, requirements and agreement on pricing.

Two points of connection have been identified for the project, and Contractors are required to price both connection options as part of their tender return. The two connection options are as follows:

Option 1 Private Wire Connection

This option requires the provision of a circa 1.5km 11,000V private wire connection from the solar farm site back to Halton stadium. This option requires the following works to be undertaken:

• Installation of solar farm substation, complete with 400V/11,000V transformer and associated switchgear and protection.
• Installation of circa 1.5km 11 KV private wire back to Halton stadium, including all wayleave searches, services searches, permits, trenching and making good of roads, pathways and road markings.
• Construction of a new substation building at the sports stadium, which is compliant with the DNO’s specification at Annex N to this specification
• Construction of a new substation at the stadium site, which will incorporate a new transformer, HV switchgear and protection.
• Provision of a new metering arrangement at the stadium site in order to measure import and export power.
• Connection of the new substation to the LV switchgear for the sports stadium.

Option 2 Sleeved PPA Connection

This option requires the provision of a circa 600m 11,000V connection from the solar farm site to a nearby POC (Point of Connection) in Ditton Road. This option requires the following works to be undertaken:

• Installation of solar farm substation, complete with 400V/11,000V transformer and associated switchgear and protection.
• Installation of circa 600m 11 KV cable back to a roadside buried DNO 11kV cable in Ditton Road, including all wayleave searches, services searches, permits, trenching and making good of roads, pathways and road markings.
•Connection into the DNO POC
• Provision of a new metering arrangement at the POC to measure import and export power.