RFQ issued for Huntington Beach desalination engineers

Engineering firms have been invited to qualify to serve as the Owner’s Engineer for the Huntington Beach Seawater Desalination Project in California, USA.

Poseidon Resources (Surfside) LLC, developer and owner of the project, announced on 11 April 2012 a request for qualification (RFQ) intended to encourage the formation of multi-disciplinary teams capable of performing a variety of engineering support services.

The deadline is 30 April 2012.

The 50 MGD (189,000 m³/d) project is to be built on approximately 12 acres (4.8 ha) located adjacent to the AES Corporation’s Huntington Beach Generating Station. The project is in the final phase of the permitting process and has secured local and state permits and approvals including a certified California Environmental Quality Act report and an approved National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit.

Poseidon has applied for a Coastal Development Permit from the California Coastal Commission and expects the commission to consider approval of the permit later this year. This is the final permit necessary to commence project construction, anticipated for the second half of 2013.

Phase 1 of the work is focused on development of new contract, bid and scope documents for the project’s engineer-procure-construct (EPC) contractor selection process and the EPC process. The six-month phase will result in a fourth quarter 2012 issuance of the Request for Proposals from qualified EPC teams.

The successful team is expected to review Poseidon’s current documentation for the Huntington Beach project, interview Poseidon management and other parties, incorporate their own concepts for EPC bidding, and issue a draft document package in three months.

Phase 2 and future phases of the Owner’s Engineer’s work include the management of the EPC process up to and through commercial operation of the seawater desalination facility. Qualified firms/teams that wish to be considered or perform Phase 1 of the Owner’s Engineer scope of work are not precluded from participating as a bidder in the EPC process.

Future phases of the Owner’s Engineer services will be defined for specific scope and fee task orders.

Firms interested in submitting a statement of qualifications must submit to Poseidon Resources in San Diego prior to 30 April 2012 at 17:00 PDT. Based on an evaluation of the statement of qualification firms will be shortlisted and interviewed during the week of 23-27 May 2012.

A final selection is expected to be made prior to 1 June 2012.