Wind Turbine O&M

This notice for the provision of an Operations and Maintenance Service for a wind turbine and adjacent met mast (the “Service”) has been issued by the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (“ORE Catapult”) as a competitive procurement exercise in accordance with the "Competitive Procedure with Negotiation" for tendering under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended from time to time).

Catapults

Catapults are centres of excellence that bridge the gap between business, academia, research and government. They are a powerful new element in the UK economy, helping businesses develop relevant and exciting ideas in receptive and invigorating environments. By promoting collaboration and knowledge exchange, many progressive businesses and organisations will be able to build new partnerships with reduced risks. Companies in a wide range of markets will see the Catapults as an invaluable resource to develop their businesses.Project Background The turbine is a standalone single former Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) large 7MW offshore turbine prototype installed approximately 50m from shore in the Scottish Enterprise owned Fife Energy Park connected to the Scottish Power electricity network at 11kV.

We are seeking suppliers who can be proactive and recognise a potential serial problem, investigate the issue, come up with a solution, and communicate with ORE Catapult throughout the whole process. You must be an organisation who is good at troubleshooting, who can identify problems that will help keep maintenance costs down and availability up.

The turbine wind resource is significantly constrained by the land-form and estuarine location and there are a number of constraints on the turbine operations due to (i) low angle sun shadow flicker; (ii) airborne noise immediately adjacent to neighbours (500m distance).

Whilst being a prototype, the turbine has been constructed using mainly commercial off the shelf hardware and SHI is providing ORE Catapult the full intellectual property package to operate and modify the turbine including its software, and all Operations and Maintenance manuals.

Suppliers are to note that ORE Catapult intend to use the wind turbine / met mast site primarily for research and development (R&D) activity. Suppliers are to note that R&D activity is essential and cannot frustrate the terms of the Contract and that any T&C’s must reflect that position.

This is a performance based scope of work to deliver the Service which shall include the scope of service as per documents downloaded in support of this notice.