Utilities are increasing relying on clean electricity from independent producers to meet growing energy demands and to comply with tighter greenhouse gas regulations. Renewable power from independent producers also allows utilities to increase their capacity without adding costly infrastructure. Renewable sources of power include water, solar, wind, and biomass.

Willis Energy Services Ltd. provides engineering, economic, and power sales assistance to independent producers of renewable power projects. It may take several years from when a project is proposed until it is commissioned and producing powr. During this time a project will have progressed through several steps in two major phases: the development phase and the engineering, procurement, and construction phase. Willis has helped independent producers to navigate successfully through both phases.

Project Development Phase
There are eight key steps in the project development phase:

1. Opportunity analysis
2. Market assessment
3. Power sales contract structuring
4. Cost development
5. Environmental permitting
6. Interconnection coordination
7. Power sales bid preparation
8. Sales contract negotiation

Willis has extensive experience in providing consulting assistance for all steps involved in the development phase, from analyzing an opportunity through to negotiating a sales contract. Project economics, market competitiveness, and environmental permitting assessments are key elements of a successful development phase.

Economic analysis of a project is vital for a developer to decide which options are the most viable and whether or not to proceed. However, determining the economics of a renewable power project can be challenging because of the lengthy timeline from project initiation to start-up; in addition innovative technologies are often involved. Willis, backed by years of experience working with a variety of power projects, can be relied upon to provide objective economic analysis.

The market assessment of a project involves determining how competitive a project will be compared to other renewable power and conventional alternatives. This competitive analysis also determines the probability of a project obtaining a power sales contract.

The environmental assessment involves reviewing the environmental permits required and determining the likelihood of a project obtaining all operating permits. Because of their technical nature, Willis works with energy and environmental engineering firms when conducting environmental reviews. Community and First Nations acceptance of a project are also essential, and Willis, due to its familiarity with a large number of projects over many years, can provide valuable guidance regarding the types of projects that will be acceptable.

Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Phase
There are three key steps in the engineering, procurement, and construction phase:

1. Detailed project design
2. Project construction
3. Sales contract monitoring

Willis is well qualified to act as the owner’s engineer in working with contractors during the engineering, procurement, and construction phase, and can monitor sales contracts on an ongoing basis once a project has been commissioned and is producing power.

Renewable Power Projects
Willis recently completed a study for BC Hydro which involved analyzing the renewable power alternatives for 45 remote communities across British Columbia. Willis was project manager for the study that researched the economics and practicality of the renewable resource options of small hydro, wind, solar photovoltaic, solar water heating, tidal, wave, in-stream, energy storage, and biomass. The project also included analyzing climate data, population, and resource availability.

Willis has extensive experience in developing cogeneration projects and can provide cogeneration studies at various levels of detail, ranging from two-day preliminary screening studies to complete specifications suitable for turnkey proposals from suppliers and contractors. The company has analyzed a large number of projects involving natural gas, biomass, and process heat, ranging in size from 25kW to 400,000 kW. One such project involved an optimization study for Tolko Industries Ltd., with the goal of determining the most cost-effective method of increasing the capacity of an existing cogeneration plant.

Another cogeneration project involved the SEEgen waste-to-energy facility in Burnaby, B.C., which is owned by the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) and operated by Montenay Inc. Willis assisted Montenay in its successful bid and contract negotiations for a ten-year contract to sell electricity generated from the plant to BC Hydro. With a maximum generating capacity of 22 MW, SEEgen provides 15 MW annually to the BC Hydro grid in addition to meeting a nearby manufacturing plant’s steam requirements.