Notice of Intent to Sole Source_FR26RDI20000000070.pdf

FR26RDI20000000070 Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract

THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT (NOI) TO AWARD A SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT AND I

NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS.

Pursuant to FAR 6.103-1 and inclusive of the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) – FAR Part Deviation Guidance, The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) intends to negotiate a single-source purchase order with Jensen Hughes, Inc. (JH) for the development of a Computation Fluid Dynamics Model to Quantify Explosion Hazards in Li-ion Battery Powered Rail Vehicles.

This research and development effort is a continuation of critical work begun under Contract 693JJ624C000003. The original contract was awarded using a competitive Broad Agency Announcement process in 2024, BAA-2023, Topic #FRA RS-001. The initial phase focused on conducting small-scale and mocked-up large scale tests of a battery enclosure which are typical of retrofit designs for battery electric locomotives. A pre-test model was developed based on publicly available data. A key challenge to research Li-ion batteries is the unpredictable nature of their failures, making it difficult to validate models due to a lack of precise failure inputs.

The proposed research aims to generate experimental data relevant to battery energy storage system (BESS) usage in rail equipment and use it to validate a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for assessing explosion hazards in rail applications. A validated model would enable safer and more cost-effective system designs and testing, ultimately contributing to the advancement of clean energy technologies. Under this follow-on effort, JH will generate and validate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models to quantify the explosion hazard in Lithium-Ion battery powered rail vehicles by focusing on flammable gases commonly produced during battery failures (hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrocarbons).

Due to administrative and governmental delays in the internal approval process, 693JJ624C000003 expired prior to the follow-on period being executed which halted JH’s research. The intent of this purchase order is to enable JH to resume the research and further develop and validate the computer model established during Phase I.

Jensen Hughes, Inc. is uniquely qualified to satisfy this requirement, as they possess the specialized data and technical continuity developed during the initial competitive award. Awarding this requirement to any other source would result in a duplication of cost to the FRA and delays in completing Phase II of the project.

This notice is not to request competitive proposals; however, interested parties may submit a capability statement that clearly demonstrates their ability to perform the continuation effort without disruption, duplication of cost or loss of program continuity. The period of performance is approximately fifteen (15) months.

Responses must be received by September 21, 2026 at 12:00 PM EST. All questions concerning this matter should be addressed directly to Isaac Rosier, Jr. at isaac.rosier@dot.gov.