Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy Technologies

Our industry experience includes:

• Presenting at major conferences and technical meetings, including the 2012–2019 American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) WINDPOWER conferences.

• Serving as part of a North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) working group called “System Planning Impacts from Distributed Energy Resources,” which focuses on supporting the increasing penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) into the bulk power system.
• Helping establish national guidelines and standards. We were part of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and AWEA committee that prepared a U.S. guideline for wind turbine foundation design. We are actively involved in developing the IEC 61400-6 standard for onshore wind turbine foundation design.

Wind

Since the early 2000s, we have provided services for project developers, contractors, owners, lenders, and investors, including site screenings, project feasibility studies, resource assessments, independent engineering, interconnection planning, conceptual engineering, contract development, detailed engineering, design reviews, construction monitoring, commissioning, and operations and maintenance (O&M) support.

Solar

Sargent & Lundy has supported solar projects since the late 1980s to include the BOP design engineer for the SEGS VIII, IX, and X facilities in California. Our long, successful history includes both photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) projects, providing owner’s engineering, independent engineering technical due diligence, and detailed design of solar energy generation. We also have considerable experience supporting the integration of solar and energy storage projects.

Energy Storage

Sargent & Lundy’s work with energy storage systems includes industry-leading experience on battery storage system projects; a wide variety of battery storage systems, from some of the world’s largest battery storage system projects to small behind-the-meter systems; and the integration of battery storage systems with solar and other generation forms. We have experience with multiple storage technologies, including liquid-air energy storage, advanced compressed air energy storage, flow batteries, and hydrogen (for energy storage and for use as a fuel). We assist clients with technology selection and evaluation, use case analysis, procurement, design and engineering, construction management, interconnection support, permitting support, independent engineering due diligence, advisory, asset transaction services, O&M support, decommissioning support, and related services.

Hydrogen

Sargent & Lundy has provided engineering support and services for all types of hydrogen projects over several decades, including hydrogen systems tied to various power sources like solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear. Our project capabilities consist of hydrogen production via electrolysis (polymer electrolyte membrane [PEM], alkaline, and solid oxide electrolysis cells [SOECs]) as well as compression, storage, blending, offloading, and other use cases. We also support hydrogen use cases for producing alternative fuels like ammonia, e-methanol, or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Our experience encompasses pairing different hydrogen technologies with common balance-of-plant systems, designing communication and electrical systems for seamless facility integration, hydrogen demand modeling, and forecasting.

Learn more about our hydrogen capabilities.

Biomass, Biofuels, Alternative Fuels, and Recycling

Sargent & Lundy’s involvement in the alternative fuels industry includes feasibility studies, fuel supply assessments, evaluations of technology options, siting evaluations, identification of “target” emission rates for air permitting activities, layouts, cost estimating, and other conceptual design activities. In addition, we have also investigated waste-to-energy projects and alternative fuels co-firing in existing units and new unit designs.

Hydroelectric

For hydroelectric power projects worldwide, our roles have included lender’s technical advisor, OE, and IE. Previous experience includes reviewing hydrology and energy production estimates; conducting technical, environmental, and asset acquisition due diligence reviews; and construction and performance test monitoring. We have performed over 70 construction monitoring and operations monitoring site visits.

Geothermal

Previous roles for geothermal projects have included OE, lender’s technical advisor, and IE. We have worked in both the generation (geothermal power) and energy distribution (deep direct use and residential/commercial district heating) sides with a range of focuses, including individual power plants and international geothermal energy market studies. We have reviewed energy production estimates, conducted technical and environmental due diligence reviews, and prepared feasibility studies for the use of geothermal energy for electricity production or steam generation.

Microgrids

Sargent & Lundy performs feasibility study, owner’s engineering, and detailed engineering of microgrid projects. We use our experience with all the technologies typically considered for use in microgrids—solar PV, diesel engines, microturbines, reciprocating engines, battery storage systems, wind turbines, and combustion turbines. Many of these technologies may capture the waste heat and operate in a combined heat and power mode to send steam or hot water to nearby homes or businesses. Our experience also includes integrating different technologies and designing the communication and electrical systems to connect the different resources.

Renewable Energy Services

Our renewable energy services help developers, owners, utilities, operators, and financiers from the beginning project stages through commercial operation and beyond. Our core services include:

• Independent Engineering

  • Due diligence – lenders/investors, asset sale, and acquisition support.
  • Facility condition assessments.
  • Design reviews.
  • Quality assurance/quality control reviews.
  • Supplier term reviews.
  • Warranty claim evaluations.
  • Remaining useful life and life extension.
  • Financial model reviews and benchmarking.

• Owner’s Engineer and Detailed Design

  • EPC support.
  • Technical specification development.
  • Request for proposal development and administration.
  • Bid evaluation.
  • Detailed design.
  • Fire protection design.
  • Substation integration.
  • Interconnection applications.
  • Permitting, zoning, and environmental services.
  • Microgrid and energy storage integration.
  • PPA negotiation support.
  • O&M advisory.

• Project Development and System/Planning Support

  • Site evaluation and selection.
  • Solar and wind resource assessments.
  • Feasibility evaluations.
  • Technology and equipment selection.
  • Interconnection planning and support.
  • Conceptual designs and layouts.

• Power System Studies and Market Modeling

  • Economic analyses and studies.
    • Production cost modeling (e.g., PLEXOS, PROMOD).
    • Resource retirement study.
    • Stochastic studies and risk analysis.
    • Net present value analysis.
    • Cost benefit analysis.
    • Identify economically advantageous locations for energy storage.

  • Feasibility/System Impact Studies and Interconnection Analyses.
    • Grid load-flow/contingency analysis.
    • Grid short-circuit analysis.
    • Grid stability analysis.
    • Subsynchronous resonance analysis.
    • DER impact analysis.
    • Transfer analysis.
  • Detailed Design Analyses and Studies.
    • Electrical studies and analyses to support design and grid connection.
    • Reactive power compensation analysis (compliant with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order No. 827).
    • Cable ampacity analysis.
    • Insulation coordination and transient analysis.
    • Safety grounding analysis.
    • Protection and coordination analysis.
    • Arc flash analysis.
    • Single-line development and associated studies.
    • Short circuit ratio study.
  • Steady-state and dynamic facility models (Power System Simulation for Engineering [PSS/E]).
  • Transmission adequacy and reliability assessments.
  • Electromagnetic transients modeling and analysis.
  • Non-material change determination.

• Asset Transaction Support and Valuations

  • Asset valuations.
  • O&M budget review.
  • Contract review and negotiation.
  • Decommissioning studies.
  • Construction financing support.

• Planning and Advisory

  • Integrated resource planning.
  • Integrated distribution planning.
  • Electric system master planning.
  • Net zero carbon planning and high renewable penetration studies.
  • Energy storage long-term planning and roadmaps.
  • Power supply procurement support and request for proposals (RFP) management.
  • Performance, capital cost, and O&M cost estimates.
  • Remaining useful life assessments.
  • Microgrid planning and design.
  • Grid modernization consulting.

• Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Support

  • Engineering and detailed design.
  • Independent reviews of contractor project designs.
  • Construction management and surveillance.
  • Licensing and permitting support.
  • Technical specification.
  • Contract preparation and negotiation.
  • Vendor qualification.
  • Material controls and quality assurance.
  • Testing and commissioning.

Renewable Energy White Papers

The following white papers highlight our capabilities in select areas.

• Battery Energy Storage Systems: Methodology for Project Risk Identification and Mitigation | Download
• Asset Valuations in the Power Sector: Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution, Energy Storage, and Microgrids | Download
• Wind Project Repowering: Best Practices and Insights (Focus on Partial Repowering) | Download
• Carbon Capture Projects: Best Practices and Insights | Download
• Wind-to-Solar Conversion: Interconnection Queue Generator Modifications | Download