Eco-Res Initiative - Research Proposal Example

 Eco-Res Initiative 1. Introduction The project for Eco-Res initiative at the University of York has the objectives of achieving sustainable living for the staff and students, living in campus accommodation. The plan is to develop sustainable electricity generation, with solar PV and wind energy systems. The goal is to reduce grid sourced electricity consumption by 30% over the next five years. The campus has five structures, A, B, C, D, and E, but the focus of this pilot study is developing the project for building A. If the plan is feasible, then it would be considered for implementation for the other buildings, and subsequently for the whole campus (EVANS, 2012). This document presents the project plan for implement solar and wind installation activity for Building A. 1.1. Client’s requirements The client, in this case, the estate manager, has certain requirements. The requirements form the basis for the project plan, and all activities are based on this plan. The client requirements are given as follows (Kerzner, 2011). The main requirement of the client is to have a plan that gives the possible amount of solar energy that can be generated with roof top PV systems, and wind power systems, installed on the open ground. The client needs to know the costs involved in the project, the number of years for payoff, and the time required for installation of the systems. A tentative cost recovery period of 10-15 years is given, and all costs of solar and wind energy investment must be made in this period. Each building in the student's accommodation has about 10 rooms, with an additional room meant for utilities. Each building has a number of kitchen and washing equipment, and electrical lights. The total connected load demand for each building is 712.2 kWh/ per day. The solar PV system can be set up on the roof, while the wind power systems must be set on the grounds. The plan should also include recommendations for power consumption, at a later stage, and a risk mitigation plan. Start date for the project is 02/01/2015. The wind turbine must to be ready for use by end April 2015. Building A is a pilot project for Solar PV, other buildings can be upgraded 2 at a time to reduce inconvenience and avoid significant reduction in accommodation space. The client requires Building A refurbishment to be installed, tested and commissioned during the Easter vacation break between Monday 16th March 2015 and Friday 10th April 2015 and the other buildings during the Summer break from June 22nd to September 4th. 2. Project requirements Project requirement refers to understanding and listing the technical and engineering requirements for the project. These will include the detailed activities such as estimation, calculation, and the civil works that must be completed as per the deadline. The project requirements are given as below (PMBOK, 2013). Calculation of the solar PV and wind power systems size. As per the case study, the total load for each building is 712.2 kWh/ day. A 30% reduction is planned = 214.56 kWh/ day. This is the amount of power that must be generated from solar and wind systems each day. Area of roof needed per Kw of solar power = 10 sq meters Roof area available = 700 sq meters Theoretical power that can be developed from roof top solar PV = 70 kW/ hr Considering an efficiency of 15% for solar power, actual power developed from the roof top = 10.5 kW/ hr. ------ (1) Area of ground needed per kW of wind power = 5 sq meters Land area available = 900 sq. meters. Therefore, power than can be developed from wind power = 180 kW/ hr with 3 turbines of kW each. Considering an efficiency of 30% for wind power, actual power developed from the wind system = 90 kW/ hr. ------- (2) Therefore, total alternate energy that can be developed from wind and solar = (1) + (2) = 105.5 kW/ hr. Considering that a reduction of 30 % in power consumption is planned, the short fall = 214.56-105.5 = 109.06 kW/hr.- ----- (3) It is clear that the power consumption must be reduced. Else, the requirement of 30% reduction will not be met. It is essential to reduce the power consumption in the buildings. Another important fact is that, solar and wind energy is available for only 50% of the year. This is another constraint, which must be examined with other alternate fuel systems such as bio fuels, piped gas, and other materials. Reductions are also possible for the number of ovens, which consumes 10.8 kWh and the Tumble Dryer, that consumes 38.4 kWh each. Other alternatives are the use of LED that all together gives savings of 59.2 kW hrs. The solar system installation size = 70 kW/ hr that will yield 10.5 kW/hr The wind system installation size = 180 kW/ hr which will yield 90 kW/hr Considering the above calculations, the following table gives the project requirements details.   Installed Capacity kW/Hr Installation time hrs Cost of installation £ k Solar PV 70 140 175 Wind 180 720 489 Recovery of costs The client requirement is that the costs must be recovered in 30 years. The detailed cost analysis are given in section 3.5. 3. Work Breakdown Structure This section provides a detailed analysis of the project, the project blue print and plan in the form of the WBS and the Gantt chart. The section also presents the resource list and the financial data for the project (Gevorkian, 2011). 3.1. WBS The work breakdown structure - WBS, provides a list of all activities, and the time required for each. These details help to estimate the project schedule and time, and in allocating resources for the project. The WBS also helps to draw up the critical path for the project. The whole project is divided into four phases, these are planning stage, tender and documentation stage, installation, and post installation stage. The client requires Building A refurbishment to be installed, tested and commissioned during the Easter vacation break between Mon 16th March 2015 and Friday 10th April 2015. Wind Turbine installation can extend until 30 April. Given below is the work breakdown structure with the all the major activities and the time required for each. I. PLANNING STAGE Identify site for wind turbine 8 hrs x 3 = 24 hrs - 3 days Solar panel calculation 14 hours - 2 days Blue prints for solar 2 days Solar panel location and wiring schedule 16 hours - 2 days Planning regulations, health & safety regulation 1 day Submitting building blueprints to the City planning committee 6 week 30 days Total 35 days II. DOCUMENTATION AND TENDER Wind Turbine Prepare documentation and send to prospective suppliers 15 days Receive and collate responses 15 days Adjudicate responses 5 days Select supplier and negotiate final contract terms and conditions 5 days Solar PV Prepare documentation and send to prospective suppliers 10 days Receive and collate responses 15 days Adjudicate responses 8 days Select supplier and negotiate final contract terms and conditions 8 days Total 23 days. These activities are considered to go along with the planning stage work. Hence, actual extra days are only 3. III. COMMISSION AND INSTALL Solar panel erect/ position/ commission 140 hours 17.5 days Solar panel cabling from roof to building services plant room 2 days Install wind turbine 720 hours - 90 days Connect and commission wind turbine 1 day Testing 4 hours Total 91 days IV. POST INSTALLATION LED Lamps - 2 days after Building A is completed More efficient laundry - 2 days after LED lamps installation Future options - 5 days after solar PC for all buildings Total 9 days Total Project time for the first three stages = 91 days As per the requirement, the time allotted for the project is from 2 January, 2015 to 10 April, 2015. The solar works will be completed as per the schedule of 10 April. However, the wind turbine will take a much longer time, until July 2nd week. The main reason for the delay is the setting up of three nos. wind turbines with a total installation time of 720 hours or 90 days. The total time required is 91 days. This may be reduced by hiring extra workers. However, the case study has not made any allotments or consideration for overtime, working on weekends, and hiring extra staff. 3.2. GANTT and PERT The GANTT and PERT chart is based on the WBS, and it creates a schedule for all the activities. Predecessors, successors if any are also given, and it is possible to plot the critical path from these inputs. The following figure gives the GANTT chart of the activities, which are given in the left column. The schedule of activities are given in the right side of the diagram. Activities without any predecessors are shown as black rectangle. Activities in red are the mandatory activities, which have a predecessor and successor, and which form the critical tasks. The red arrow indicates the critical path for the project (Larson and Gray, 2012). Figure 3.1. Gantt and PERT Chart for the project 3.3. Resources lists Resource for the project include the members of the ITT the team of four members for the project management office, the external consultants, and the vendors with their installation teams. The construction, wiring, commissioning work is outsourced to vendors. Vendors are given the work on a contract, and they must arrange for their own workforce. Resources for the project, as per the case study are given as follows (PMBOK, 2013). PMO = 1 Manager + 4 team members Solar Energy consultant - 1 nos Wind energy consultant - 1 nos Solar system erecting and commissioning - outsourced to vendor 3Wind energy erecting and commissioning - outsourced to vendor 3.4. Finance data The plan is for a solar PV and wind turbine installation. As per the case study, the following costs and other details are calculated. Total investment for solar and wind systems is £ 664,000. Table 3.1. Financial details of the project Solar   Installed capacity kW/ Hr 70 Generated output kW/ Hr 10.5 Assuming 8 hours daylight/ day, output / day in kW/Hr 84 Assuming six months wind, total output in six months kW/ hr 15120 Cost of installation £ k 175 Benefit gained from feed-in tariff at 0.103 £/ kWhr for 20 years 1,557.36 Benefit gained from Generation Tariff income at 0.048 £/ kWhr for 20 years 725.76 Total benefits/ year 2283.12 Years required to recover costs 76 Wind   Installed capacity kW/ Hr 180 Generated output kW/ Hr 90 Assuming 24 hours wind, output / day in kW/Hr 2160 Assuming six months daylight, total output in six months kW/ hr 3,88,800 Cost of installation £ k 489 Benefit gained from feed-in tariff at 0.216 £/ kW/hr for 20 years 83980 Benefit gained from Generation Tariff income at 0.047 £/ kWhr for 20 years 18273.6 Total benefits £/ year 1,02,253.60 Years required to recover costs 5.00 From the above calculations, it becomes clear that it will take 76 years to recover the cost of solar PV installation. Wind systems will allow the costs to be recovered in 5 years. Considering a 15-year recovery period, the total recovered costs are given for this period as follows: Solar PV income in 15 years = 34,246 Wind power income in 15 years = 15,33,795 However, with a total investment of 664,000, the recovery period with solar + wind = 32 years. It is clear that solar PV is very expensive. Cost recovery in the specified time is possible by increasing the wind power generation capacity. 4. Deliverables and milestones with dates The following tables gives the detailed activity names, along with the duration, the start and the completion dates (Gevorkian, 2011). Table 4.1. Deliverables and milestones PLANNING STAGE Duration Start Date End Date Identify site for wind turbine 8 hrs x 3 = 24 hrs - 3 days 3 02-Jan-15 06-Jan-15 Solar panel calculation 14 hours - 2 days 2 02-Jan-15 05-Jan-15 Blue prints for solar 2 days 2 06-Jan 07-Jan Solar panel location and wiring schedule 16 hours - 2 days 2 08-Jan 09-Jan Planning regulations, health & safety regulation 1 day 1 12-Jan 12-Jan Submitting building blueprints to the City planning committee 6 week 30 days 30 13-Jan 23-Jan Total 35days DOCUMENTATION AND TENDER Duration Start Date End Date Wind Turbine       Prepare documentation and send to prospective suppliers 5 days 5 02-Jan 08-Jan Receive and collate responses 15 days 15 09-Jan 30-Jan Adjudicate responses 5 days 5 02-Feb 06-Feb Select supplier and negotiate final contract terms and conditions 5 days 5 09-Feb 13-Feb Solar PV       Prepare documentation and send to prospective suppliers 10 days 10 02-Jan 15-Jan Receive and collate responses 15 days 15 16-Jan 05-Feb Adjudicate responses 8 days 8 06-Feb 18-Feb Select supplier and negotiate final contract terms and conditions 8 days 8 19-Feb 03-Mar Total 23 days COMMISSION AND INSTALL Duration Start Date End Date Solar panel erect/ position/ commission 140 hours 17.5 days 17.5 04-Mar 27-Mar Solar panel cabling from roof to building services plant room 2 days 2 30-Mar 31-Mar Install wind turbine 720 hours - 90 days 90 04-Mar 09-Jun Connect and commission wind turbine 1 day 1 10-Jun 10-Jun Testing 4 hours 0.5 11-Jun 11-Jun Total 91 days POST INSTALLATION Duration Start Date End Date LED Lamps - 2 days after Building A is completed 2 12-Jun 15-Jun More efficient laundry - 2 days after LED lamps installation 2 16-Jun 17-Jun Future options - 5 days after solar PC for all buildings 5 18-Jun 24-Jun Total 9 days       5. Project risks and mitigation options Risk mitigation is a very important task in project management. Risks can arise from wrong technical specifications, improper requirements development, wrong installation, and the added risk of wrong financial calculations. The client has some requirements, and these are detailed in section 1.1. A number of risks are evident in the project (Kerzner, 2013). The following table gives the risk mitigation plan. The first column gives a detailed description of the risk. The next two columns allow the risk to be rated as per a scale. Impact is the consequence and result, if the risk event occurs. This has a rating scale of 1-5, with 1 standing for the least impact and 5 for the maximum impact. The next column is the likelihood of the risk event occurring, and this is given a scale of 1-5, with 1 standing for the least likelihood, and 5 for the least likelihood. Risk level is the product of the first two columns, and different indicators such as L for low, M for medium, H for high and VH for very high. Colours codes are used to indicate the risk levels. Table 5.1. Risk mitigation plan Identified Risks Analysis & Evaluation Risk Management Plan Risk Description Impact (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) Likelihood (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Risk level (L, M, H or VH) Actions to reduce the risk Project schedules cannot be maintained as per client requirements. 5 5 20 The calculations and projections indicate that project schedule cannot be met for wind systems. Explain to the customer. Ask for changed deadlines or increase the budget to hire more staff for vendors and complete the project on time Recovery of costs is not possible in the time frame required by the customers 5 5 20 Show the calculations to the customer and explain that the high solar PV costs make it impossible to meet the financial recovery schedule. Suggest extra installation for wind system, give suggestions to reduce the power requirements, and obtain approval Project requirements are incomplete, wrong 4 4 16 Verify the requirements with the client. Obtain sign off for all the points and freeze them Project scope not firm, there is a chance for project creep 4 3 12 Decide on the change request methods. Obtain consent from the client about increase in project costs, based on the change requests Improper calculation of solar system requriements 4 2 8 Hire a solar PV consultant for the duration of the project. The consultant should have experience in similar solar projects. Improper calculation of wind system requriements 4 2 8 Hire a wind PV consultant for the duration of the project. The consultant should have experience in similar solar projects. Vendor to whom Solar PV project is outsourced is inefficient 5 2 10 Outsource work to only vendors with proven expertise and with a number of completed projects. Visit the site of and verify the work by speaking with the project owners. Do not consider only lower quotation. Vendor to whom wind PV project is outsourced is inefficient 5 2 10 Outsource work to only vendors with proven expertise and with a number of completed projects. Visit the site of and verify the work by speaking with the project owners. Do not consider only lower quotation.           Key Very High VH High H Medium M Low L 6. Summary and Conclusions The paper has presented the detailed analysis and calculation for the project. Details of the WBS, GANTT chart, financial analysis, and a risk mitigation plan were created, after the detailed requirements were formed. The calculations indicate that the solar PV component of the project has very high costs, low power generation, and a very long recovery cost. It also becomes clear that the lesser space available for the solar project means lesser power is generated. Solar PV allows for only 10% efficiency, and it is available only for 6 months, and not available during night. Wind power system however shows a short recovery time, since the output is relatively high. While LED lamps can be used to replace other lamps, the contribution will not help in reducing the recovery for the solar PV system. 6.1. Suggestions to improve the project Some suggestions to improve the project are given as follows. Reconsider the total load that is connected to the building by reducing the load of laundry, particularly the tumble dryers. More efficient systems can be used, or the number of such machines can be reduced by providing common areas for laundry. Change over to LED lamps, since they provide for more efficient lighting. Solar PV systems have high costs, with poor efficiency and a long recovery period. Wind systems on the other hand are much more efficient. The suggestion is to provide more wind turbines, and eliminate solar PV systems from the complex. This will lead to better efficiency, lower power costs and a faster recovery. References EVANS, 2012. Design Summary for College 9, Community Forum Meeting. EVANS property group, The University of York, UK. Gevorkian, P. 2011. Large-Scale Solar and Wind Power System Design. Wiley: London. Kerzner, H. R., 2013. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, 11th Edition. Wiley: London. Lewis, J. P., 2005. Project Planning, Scheduling & Control, 4th edition. McGraw Hill: London Larson, E. and Gray, C., 2012. Project Management-the managerial process, fifth edition. McGraw-Hill Irwin: London. PMBOK, 2013. A guide to the project management body of knowledge. Project Management Institute: London Read More