Environmental, Engineering and Pre-Construction Cost Considerations for Wind Power Development

1
Environmental, Engineering and Pre-Construction
Cost Considerations for Wind Power Development

• Anntonette Alberti, JD
• Tetra Tech
• IPED Financing Wind Power
• July 25, 2007

2
Introduction to Tetra Tech

• 7500 employees and 250 offices nationwide
• Full service wind energy contractor
• Environmental
• Engineering
• Construction
• OM
• Over 70 wind projects for about 30 clients across
  the US
• Our current projects range from
• Drafting the American Wind Energy Association
  (AWEA) Environmental Siting Guide with Nixon
  Peabody
• Turnkey meteorology, engineering design and
  environmental permitting of a 300 to 500 MW
  facility on Lanai with AWS
• Civil construction of several New York State wind
  farms
• Offshore wind

3
Presentation Goals

• Provide an overview of the steps associated with
  developing a wind power project
• Identify aspects of development that can affect
  overall costs of construction

4
Anatomy of a Wind Project
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Components of a Wind Project

• It is not just turbines. . .
• Temporary met towers
• Construction trailers and lay-down areas
• Concrete batch plant
• Construction spoil disposal sites
• Construction work areas around turbine
  foundations
• Access roads
• Public road improvements
• Electrical collection lines
• Transmission lines
• Switchyards, substations, point of
  interconnection stations
• Permanent met towers
• Restoration and mitigation projects
• Operations and maintenance building
• Visitor kiosk

6
Wind

• Meteorology costs
• Wind Measurement Equipment and Installation
• Data Collection and Interpretation
• Meteorological Consultation and Advice

7
Transmission

• Transmission Costs
• Development Electrical Engineering (What you need
  to get the right permits/land rights and get
  interconnection, not develop final construction
  drawings)
• Feasibility Study
• Conceptual collection system and high voltage
  interconnection design
• System Reliability Interconnection Study
• Feasibility Study
• Utility Interconnection
• Fees and filings associated with interconnection
• Cost allocation for system upgrades
• Transmission legal
• Outside counsel for interconnection agreements,
  filings, FERC

8
Land

• Land costs
• Costs of hired land men
• Hours and expenses
• Landowner payments
• Signing payments
• Met tower payments
• Option payments
• Lease conversion payments
• Neighbor agreement payments
• Land legal and title
• Outside counsel
• Title company
• ALTA
• Recording fees

9
Public and Governmental Relations

• Public and Governmental Relations Costs
• Local Office
• Staff
• Equipment
• Landowners and neighbors
• Newsletters
• Dinners
• Community Public Relations
• Mailings
• Ads
• Open houses
• Fairs and community events
• Charitable sponsorships
• Governmental Relations
• Lobbyists
• Public meeting support

10
Development Civil Engineering

• Costs for Development Civil Engineering (What you
  need to get the right permits/land rights, not
  develop final construction drawings)
• Conceptual Layout
• Constraint mapping
• Initial geotech (desktop?)
• Transportation study (identify routes, need for
  improvements to bridges, culverts, intersections,
  etc)
• Initial siting turbines, roads, collection,
  transmission, substation, construction work
  areas, etc
• Walk-overs

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Development Civil Engineering Cont.

• Permitting Layout development (need coordination
  with electrical on collection system/high voltage
  portions of design)
• 2 contours
• Initital horizontal alignment
• Geotechnical study
• Survey and Staking
• Engineering/environmental walk
• Landowner walk
• Agency walk as needed
• Finalize horizontal layout for permitting

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Development Civil Engineering Cont.

• Engineering-heavy permits
• DOT permits for road improvements and cutting
  access into state roads
• Local permits for road improvements and cutting
  access into local roads
• NPDES (or state equivalent) NOI for construction
  with SWPPP and SPCCP
• NPDES (or equivalent) NOI for operation with
  SWPPP and SPCCP (this is important to consider
  during design because of potential need for
  secondary containment around transformers)

13
Environmental Studies and Permitting

• Environmental Studies and Permitting Costs
• Consultants
• Permit applications and regulatory representation
• Avian and bat studies, reports, consultations
• Wetland studies, reports, permits, mitigation
• Wildlife and vegetation studies, reports,
  consultations, mitigation
• Agricultural protection consultation, mitigation
• Cultural and historical resource studies and
  consultations, mitigation
• Communications interference studies (including
  homeland security)
• Aviation interference studies
• Visual impact analysis
• Groundwater studies
• Socioeconomic studies as required
• Other studies as required
• EAs, DEISs. FEISs and/or equivalent reports and
  processes

14
Environmental Studies and Permitting Cont.

• Permitting fees
• Actual permit fees
• Agency collection agreements
• Permitting Legal
• Outside counsel

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Preconstruction

• Preconstruction Costs
• Negotiations with turbine and other
  equipment/service providers
• Finalize Turbine and Long-Lead-Time Item
  Procurement
• Final Construction Plans and Drawings
• Develop Environmental Construction Compliance
  Plan
• Secure Construction Owner-Representative Team
• Secure Construction Contractors
• Develop Mobilization Plan

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Take Away Points

• Wind project development is highly iterative
• Change management in scope, schedule and budget
  is key
• Early engineering and constructability review can
  save tens of millions during construction
• Appropriate planning can vastly improve long term
  economics

17
Contacts

• Environmental and Engineering
• Anntonette Alberti, JD
• anntonette.alberti_at_tteci.com
• 518-488-8588
• Charlie Karustis
• charlie.karustis_at_tteci.com
• 503-222-4536

• Construction and Operations Maintenance
• John Hueston
• john.hueston_at_tteci.com
• 678-983-0863