JA for Other than Full and Open Doble_Redacted.pdf

LRN-FY24-03

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

Doble Engineering- Doble Equipment Lease and Services

Control Number: LRN-FY24-03

1. Contracting Activity: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Nashville District (CELRN) Contracting Division, Nashville, Tennessee.

2. Description of Action: : This action is a request for other than full and open competition to issue a firm fixed-price contract to obtain specialized test equipment leasing, and engineering services, necessary for US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) personnel to test, evaluate, and asses the health of high voltage electrical equipment installed in Corps Hydropower generating stations.

The contract would allow the Electronics Service Section to fulfill its duties and responsibilities in accordance with the Nashville District’s (LRN) Testing and Maintenance of Power Plant Equipment Memorandum, which requires periodic testing of Generators, Power Transformers and Transformer Bushings, and Circuit Breakers and Bushings, using the power-factor testing. The test is also called “Doble testing” because Doble Engineering was one of the first manufacturers of power-factor testing equipment.

Power-factor testing is a test technique providing information about the integrity of the insulation systems. The test is effective in detecting insulation contamination, the quality of the semiconducting and stress gradient coatings, the amount of void content, partial discharge damage, insulation delamination, and the quality of the impregnation process. This test technique has been in existence for many years, and Doble has been maintaining a database of results since the late 1950s.

3. Description of Supplies / Services: The renewal shall be a five year agreement composed of a base year and four individual option years to provide for: two (2) Doble 10 kV Insulation Analyzers, 10 kV test cable and miscellaneous accessories, oil committee services, and inclusive engineering and consulting services comprised of direct consultation, use of Doble’s historical library, annual field training, maintenance and test guides, test records, technical reports, calibration, and annual client conferences.

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority for permitting other than full an open competition is 10 U.S.C. § 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 13.106-1—Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

(1) Background:

LRN has had an active Doble Services and Equipment Agreement in place for over forty years, providing for specialized test equipment and technical services used to perform testing and maintenance of installed power system equipment at Corps hydropower facilities, using the “Doble Method”.

The “Doble Method” was pioneered by Doble Engineering in 1929 and consists of high voltage insulation testing and analysis techniques utilized to perform diagnostics and predictive maintenance as part of a larger asset management strategy for high value capital equipment, and critical infrastructure.

Doble test results allow USACE to identify and correct emerging problems before they become major failures resulting in extensive equipment damage, outages/lost power production capability, and exorbitant repair costs.

LRN has a current contract, W912P5-13-P-0105, with Doble Engineering that includes two “deliverables”: Test Equipment in the form of Insulation Analyzer test sets, and Services in the form of direct engineering consultation, access and use of Doble’s extensive test database, personalized field training, maintenance and test guides, technical reports, and participation in Doble Client Committees and Conferences.

Test Equipment - LRN currently leases two (2) Doble 10 kV Insulation Analyzers, and associated software packages, which are used in conjunction with Corps owned test equipment, to perform and document insulation integrity, excitation, and other electrical tests on major hydropower electrical apparatus.

Services - Doble’s Consulting Engineering Services specializes in the insulation systems of high-voltage power apparatus. At the core of the Doble- USACE relationship is an orderly apparatus test program carried out by USACE personnel utilizing specialized instruments provided by Doble; tests are performed for acceptance, troubleshooting, preventive maintenance, and predictive maintenance. Insulation testing is an “art” which is made effective only when the results are prudently compared with an extensive database and correlated with apparatus operating experience. Central to this process is Doble’s statistical test database, compiled over eighty years covering all major manufacturers and apparatus types, plus annual published reports relating to apparatus troubles and failures. This information, in both electronic and print form, is proprietary and copyrighted material available only to Doble Clients.

Doble Service provides maximum assurance that the optimum test techniques – most of which were developed by Doble – will be employed, and the results will be properly interpreted so that serious conditions are recognized as such and corrected, while avoiding taking unnecessary actions or actions which otherwise can be postponed or delayed. Thus, testing is merely one part of a broader picture that includes practical issues (e.g. “what to do, when, and how”) which arise whenever abnormal test results are obtained. Doble Service addresses these interrelated issues in all-encompassing and in-depth ways.

Doble Engineering research uses their large electrical industry interface to continuously develop new test techniques using existing and new equipment to help solve industry problems and distribute the results to their Doble Clients.

In addition to the consulting services detailed above, the Doble agreement includes onsite training once per year, worth of new oil samples per year, the ability to attend and participate in Annual International Conference of Doble® Clients, access to the Doble Library, Client Portal, DTA Web, and the “AskDoble” Email Discussion Forum.

(2) Justification:

Doble has been providing high quality insulation test instruments, with related Consulting Engineering Service, since 1929, and this represents Doble’s primary activity today. No company in the world has as much experience and expertise in field testing high-voltage apparatus insulation. The Doble expertise and services (including their historical database) are nearly impossible to find elsewhere in the industry at this time.

In addition, while the Doble M4100equipment is one of several commercially available test sets that meet the Corps’ testing requirements, only Doble Engineering provides the type of comprehensive equipment and services agreement necessary to meet LRN’s HT&E program needs:

(a) LRN Program Continuity - LRN engineers and technicians have spent a significant amount of time, money, and effort on Doble training courses, conferences, seminars, and process development (including test records database development), specific to the usage of Doble’s diagnostic systems. All test data compiled and analyzed by USACE and LRN over the years is benchmarked using Doble’s diagnostic systems. A departure from the Doble agreement would cause significant impact to LRN’s testing and maintenance program in terms of retooling, retraining, learning curve, test schedules and testing processes and procedures development. In addition, all testing and diagnostic assessments of critical high voltage apparatus at LRN facilities have been completed using the Doble system. A change introduces substantial uncertainty regarding the integrity of test data, trending capabilities, operability, and overall test program continuity.

(b) Services Portfolio and Statistical Database – Doble Engineering’s Services Portfolio is particularly unique, and currently unmatched in the industry.

LRN extensively uses this service for direct consultation, tests results interpretation, use of Doble’s test database, and client conference and committee participation. Doble’s test database includes approximately 55,000,000 test results on over 1,000,000 apparatus covering all makes, types and ratings of all conventional high-voltage power apparatus manufactured throughout the world.

The test data tabulations are arranged in orderly fashion (by equipment type, manufacturer, and rating) and published in the Doble Test-Data Reference Book, which is supplied to all subscribers. The Test-Data Reference Book is