Capital Project Management and Owner’s Engineering
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Background Information
Ascend Energy Solutions offers solutions to operators and developers who need assistance with planning, scoping, developing, and executing capital projects. Our team works with clients from project inception to provide front-end planning and prepare detailed scopes of work and cost estimates. We then manage your project and contractors through execution and startup to ensure on-time and on-budget performance.
About The Client
Our client is an energy investment and asset management company with expertise in the conventional and renewable energy markets. Their in-depth understanding of energy markets and asset valuation has made them successful in developing, financing, and optimizing energy assets.
Their Challenge
Our client was developing a project to construct a distillation facility utilizing waste heat from a cogeneration power plant as an energy source. The project involved integration with an existing operating facility and was required to be completed as quickly as possible to capture a market opportunity. The client needed an experienced project team with the ability to manage the complex project through all aspects of engineering, permitting, and construction.
They chose Ascend team members to provide project management and owner’s engineering services to the project due to our previous success in developing and executing large and complex energy projects. Our team has provided scoping, development, design, and management of over $6 billion in capital projects. We have also performed owner’s engineering services and commissioning and startup support for numerous oil & gas, power, and infrastructure projects.
Our Solution
With complex and fast-paced projects, it is common for project teams to skip steps with the goal of speeding up the project. The Ascend team’s experience with executing these types of projects was critical to avoiding delays and cost overruns by knowing which details can’t be bypassed and when they are needed. Ascend developed a project plan and led the project team through technology selection, preliminary engineering, and development of a detailed design basis. This work also produced a cost estimate and critical path schedule that set the foundation for the execution of the project.
The Ascend team then evaluated various contracting strategies including lump-sum EPC, time and materials, and cost-plus. After meeting with several contractors and our client, it was recommended to contract the project with a single general contractor on a T&M basis. This provided our client with a single point of responsibility but also offered the ability to be flexible on scope to expedite the schedule.
Ascend prepared the detailed scopes of work for both the engineering contractor and construction contractor and managed the project through construction. We also reviewed all engineering and design documents as well as preparing the commissioning and startup and operating procedures for plant operations.
Results
The Ascend approach to managing the project led to a well-executed and cost-effective solution to a challenging project. The execution strategy allowed the project to be flexible with evolving scope requirements and capture savings by re-using existing materials and equipment. The project was completed and started up on time allowing the client to capture a critical market opportunity worth over $1 million per month.
Due to the successful performance on the initial project, the client requested the Ascend team for scoping and execution of several related follow-on projects. We also provided several facility and system optimization studies which have reduced their operating costs.
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