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Osborne Cogeneration Gas-Fired Power Plant
Adelaide, South Australia

This gas-fired cogeneration plant located in South Australia experienced substantial completion delays prior to steam blow and commencement of commissioning, which the Owner maintained were indisputably caused by the Contractor. Further, the effective date of the Certificate of Acceptance was also in dispute, and between that date and the extended Guaranteed Acceptance Date, the Owner charged the Contractor with the maximum liquidated damages. The Contractor served a dispute notice on the Owner, claiming liquidated damages deducted and enhanced incremental costs for Owner-caused delays. Nielsen Wurster was engaged to prepare a schedule delay analysis and to address Contractor’s allegations of delay. Nielsen-Wurster reviewed the project documentation, schedules and start-up records, and prepared an expert analysis to be employed in the negotiations. After Nielsen Wurster met directly with the Contractor’s scheduling consultant and presented the findings of their analyses, the Contractor and Owner were able to reach an amicable settlement in which a portion of the liquidated damages were forgiven without payment of enhanced incremental costs.

Nikiski Cogeneration Facility
Nikiski, Alaska, USA

Nielsen-Wurster was engaged by the project Developer to evaluate the turnkey Contractor’s claim on the Nikiski Cogeneration facility, which provides steam to a local fertilizer plant and generates 40 MW of power which is sold to the local utility. This cogeneration plant was built using a relocated gas turbine generator which was then connected to a new package HRSG that supplies steam to the fertilizer plant. The Contractor’s claim included issues relating to the gas turbine generator, delivery of the HRSG contract and alleged interference and changes imposed by the Owner during design and construction. Nielsen-Wurster prepared a counterclaim report and detailed evaluation of the opposing expert’s report, specifically analyzing such issues as the Contractor’s project management, Owner’s administration of the contract, schedule delays, construction productivity, reasonableness of the Contractor’s bid and damages incurred. Following significant mediation presentations by Nielsen-Wurster and the results of its analyses, the Contractor accepted a settlement that was less than 20 percent of its claim.
 

Conoco Cogeneration Plant
Orange, Texas

Nielsen-Wurster was engaged by the Owner of a cogeneration facility to provide expert analyses in a dispute with the Engineer-Procure-Construct (EPC) Contractor, after the Owner had exhausted all attempts to reach an amicable settlement on this combination lump sum turnkey (LSTK) / time and materials (T&M) project. The Owner claimed damages as a result of Contractor project delays, willful slowdown, excessive T&M costs and LSTK overpayments. Nielsen-Wurster reviewed the claim documents and project records, prepared a schedule delay and causation analysis, and evaluated all parties’ project management. Nielsen-Wurster presented its results in a mediation that led to resolution of all issues between the parties.
 

Elsta Cogeneration Power Plant
Terneuzen, The Netherlands

Nielsen-Wurster was engaged by AES International Corporation, the Owner/Operator of a 400 MW cogeneration power plant located adjacent to a chemical company’s Benelux facilities. The plant provides process steam and electrical power to the chemical plant and excess power to others. At what was scheduled to have been mechanical completion, AES bought the project from a subsidiary of the chemical company that was executing the project through another chemical company subsidiary under a lump sum turnkey contract. There were allegations of misrepresentation of the adequacy and level of completion of design at the time of the sale. In an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Arbitration, Nielsen-Wurster presented expert analyses on the chemical company’s various subsidiaries’ project management, the impacts sustained from delay/acceleration/disruption, and AES’ management, scope and costs of corrective measures undertaken following completion.
 

Lakewood Cogeneration Plant
Lakewood, New Jersey

The Engineer-Procure-Construct (EPC) Contractor (CRS Sirrine, Inc.) engaged Nielsen-Wurster to perform Risk Management and Dispute Resolution Services on this 236 MW Combined Cycle Cogeneration Plant in Lakewood, New Jersey. The plant had two gas turbines (Type ABB CT 11N1) with Dry Low Nox combustion chambers, each with a dedicated generator. Each gas turbine was coupled to an individual unfired Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) that exhausted through a separate stack and a single casing steam turbine. The scope of work also included the buildings, switchyard, water treatment facilities, fuel storage facilities and the associated site improvements. The Project experienced numerous delays, acceleration claims from the Prime Contractors and start up problems, including a catastrophic equipment failure and inability to meet the prescribed and state mandated emission levels. Additionally, the economic basis of the plant was impacted by the noncompletion of the steam user (a greenhouse facility) that was terminated about 90 percent into completion of the power plant. The Developer blamed many problems on the EPC Contractor and the primary Subcontractors and equipment Vendor. Nielsen-Wurster initially assisted on-site with resolving the Project completion issues. Following the catastrophic accident (with turbine related equipment), Nielsen-Wurster analyzed the causes for delay and subsequent acceleration and cost of Subcontractor-claimed productivity impacts. The results of Nielsen Wurster’s analyses were employed to resolve all issues between the Owner/Developer and the EPC Contractor, and between the EPC Contractor and the primary Subcontractors and equipment Vendors. The resolution was provided in a timely fashion so the CRS power subsidiary could be sold to a new Owner.
 

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